WILLISTON, ND Man Arrested for Failure of Registered Sex Offender to Report International Travel

Bismarck – United States Attorney Drew H. Wrigley announced that on February 10, 2020 Leonard Barton Higdon made his initial appearance and was arraigned before Magistrate Judge Clare R. Hochhalter on the charges of Failure of Registered Sex Offender to Report International Travel. The trial has been scheduled for March 31, 2020 before Senior Judge Daniel L. Hovland.

Higdon is a registered sex offender based on his convictions under Georgia law for Statutory Rape of a 13 year old child on 10/28/1996 and Sexual Battery of a Child Under Age 16 on 8/28/2006. Under Federal law, registered sex offenders must report all intended foreign travel to the registration authority 21 days in advance of any such travel and complete an international travel form with the US Marshal’s Service. It is alleged that Higdon traveled outside of the United States at the end of November 2019 without reporting such intended travel and/or completing the international travel form.

This case was investigated by the US Marshal’s Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; ND Bureau of Criminal Investigation; Williams County Sheriff; Williston

Police Department; Assistant United Sates Attorney Rick Volk is prosecuting the case.