Oprah’s show snags fugitive sex offender

FARGO, N.D. – The same week Oprah Winfrey began devoting time on her show to tracking down sex offenders, she has a collar to show for it.

William C. Davis, 33, of Wadesville, Ind., was arrested in Fargo on Thursday, two days after the talk-show host broadcast his face and offered $100,000 for information leading to his capture.

Tuesday’s show included an appearance by Steve Groene, the father of Shasta Groene, who was found in Coeur d’Alene with sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan.

Jean Rosenthal, of Moorhead, Minn., recognized Davis as “Mark,” a neighbor of her friend Karie Miller. She called Miller on Wednesday, and the 29-year-old Fargo deli worker discovered the man’s identity Thursday morning on a Web site.

“His picture came up and I started shaking so bad, I couldn’t hold my coffee,” Miller told the Forum of Fargo in Friday editions.

Davis, who was on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives list, was one of several fugitive sex offenders shown on Winfrey’s program Tuesday. The reward, offered by her production company, applies to fugitives presented on the show and on www.oprah.com.

Davis faces felony charges of molesting three Indiana boys last year and failing to register as a sex offender.