By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A convicted child molester, who was listed as homeless and living at the Stillwater Creek Bridge on Perkins Road south of 19th Street, has been jailed on $10,000 bail pending a May 6 court appearance on a charge of failing to comply with the Oklahoma Sex Offender Registration Act.
Due to his criminal record, John David Womack, 56, who has also used the surnames of Ludlow and Wonack according to prison records, could be incarcerated for four years to life if convicted of the felony charge filed last week.
Womack was arrested on April 5 near the bridge at 19th and Perkins Road by Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Rockford Brown, court records show.
“Womack was convicted in Tulsa County for lewd or indecent proposals to a child. Due to this conviction, Womack is registered as an aggravated offender through OKDOC with a lifetime registration,” according to the investigator’s affidavit.
Under Oklahoma law, any person who “registers as a transient shall report in person to the nearest local law enforcement authority every seven days and provide to the local law enforcement authority the approximate location of where the person is staying and where the person plans to stay.
“Womack has been registered with the Payne County Sheriff’s Office most recently since Feb. 22, 2024. Following Feb. 22, Womack checked in at PCSO on March 1 and March 8, signing his homeless registration form that is kept on file at PCSO.
“Womack missed the weeks of March 15-19, 22-26, March 29-April 3. As of April 4, Womack has still not checked in with PCSO. Tuesday, April 2, 2024, Sgt. Zanfardino of PCSO contacted Womack at the bridge located on Perkins Road south of 19th St. This is the area where Womack is registered as homeless,” the affidavit alleged.
Womack had been convicted in Tulsa County in 2001 of child molestation and given a five-year prison term of which he served about four and one-half years before going on probation for five years, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Court records show that Womack was also convicted of:
* marijuana possession in Major County in 2010 and placed on probation for seven years;
* failure to register as a sex offender in Garfield County in 2012 and given a two-year prison term, but he only served six months before going on three years of probation that he violated in 2014 for which he was incarcerated for 11 months;
* being a sex offender living within 2,000 feet of a park or playground as a second offense in Major County in 2019 for which he was placed on five years of probation;
* failure to register as a sex offender in Pawnee County in 2021 for which he was placed on probation for two years;
* failure to register as a sex offender in Payne County in 2022 for which he was placed on probation for four years.
