A registered sex offender who was sentenced to serve time in Federal prison early this summer was arrested in Pike County this week.
According to a press release from the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, 63 year old Robert Wayne Niffen was located at a residence in the 300 block of Landess Terrace in Pittsfield on Thursday.
In June of 2022, Niffen was arrested by Pike County Sheriff’s Deputies in Barry after he reportedly stopped a pair of underage girls while he was riding a bicycle around Barry and offered them marijuana and the use of a hot tub.
One of the juvenile’s parents alerted authorities of the incident and Niffen was subsequently arrested on a parole warrant out of the state of Texas.
The Texas Department of Corrections warrant listed Niffen’s original charges as aggravated rape and escape from a penal institution. Niffen was convicted of rape in 1981 and spent 20 years in prison and is required to register as a sex offender for life.
The Texas Department of Corrections also listed Niffen as a violent sex offender absconder. Pike County Sheriff David Greenwood said at the time that Niffen has a lengthy criminal history.
Niffen’s original charges were dropped in Pike County and deferred to the federal court, where on June 28th of this year, he was sentenced to serve 20 months in federal prison followed by seven years of mandatory supervised release.
On Thursday of this week, Niffen was arrested in Pittsfield for failure to register as a sex offender, and a State of Texas Department of Corrections parole violation warrant.
Niffen is currently being held at the Pike County Jail.
WLDS News inquired with the Springfield, Illinois office with the U.S. Department of Justice as to the reasons how and why Niffen was currently out of federal custody after his conviction in the Central District Court for Illinois in June. According to DOJ officials, Niffen received credit for time served from his June 2022 arrest and was released on parole within the last few months.