A Palm Harbor man with a history of violence against children and a mandate to register where ever he moved as a sex offender went eight years living in Florida without registering, according to a public arrest affidavit found by ABC Action News.
Thomas Touchstone, 70, pled guilty to multiple counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age in 1986 in Massachusetts, according to the affidavit. Part of his sentence included a requirement to register as sex offender.
Touchstone's most recent registration was in 2008. In May of 2009, a warrant was issued for Touchstone's arrest for failure to register to his new address in Waymouth, Massachusetts. The warrant is non-extraditable outside Massachusetts, according to the report.
Florida's Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles records show Touchstone got a driver's license in April 2009 for an address of 2106 Clover Hill Road in Palm Harbor. This address was confirmed by the DHSMV as recently as August 2015.
Touchstone never registered as a sexual offender in Florida, as required by state law, according to the affidavit.
Touchstone is now charged with failing to register as a sexual offender by Florida's Department of Law Enforcement. FDLE said Touchstone has admitted to breaking Massachusetts and Florida law.
