Fugitive caught at local carnival

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) - The United States Marshals arrested a carnival worker in Cedar Park who was recently accused of molesting numerous children in several states.

Georgia authorities had been hunting for Clint Crisp, 44, for a year and a half. Two warrants of out of Quitman, Georgia spell out two separate child sex crime charges stemming from December of 2007. Crisp was accused of "fondling" a young girl... and "pleasuring himself in her presence." He was also charged with fondling a child nine days later.

In addition to the Georgia charges, U.S. Marshal Hector Gomez said Crisp was wanted for sexual assault charges in South Carolina and Florida.

"Clint Crisp had a very colorful background,” said Gomez

A detective contacted the U.S. Marshals division in Austin in the afternoon on May 22. They received word that Crisp was working at a traveling carnival in the Central Texas area. Local deputies discovered a carnival set up in the parking lot of Lakeline Mall. With help from Williamson County Constables, detectives showed up undercover.

"It was late Friday evening,” said Gomez. “And there were obviously a lot of men, women, and children and families in the area."

With a dated picture of Crisp to go on, one of the U.S. Marshals spotted a man that looked like him working the dart game booth. The deputy played several games of dart, and sparked up a conversation with Crisp. Over the course of the conversation, Gomez said Crisp said his name and where he was from.

It was enough information to confirm they had the right guy. The U.S. Marshals moved in and made their arrest as discreetly as possible.

“We’re glad that he was located,” said Mary Bell, with Century 21 Shows.

The company was behind the carnival, and said they did hire Crisp. Bell said he worked for an independent game company. Century 21 Shows said they perform drug tests and background checks on every employee.

“We would not be in this business long if we hired people like that,” said Bell.

According to Bell, the games and concessions at their carnivals are subcontracted out. Crisp was working for Keith Concessions. Bell felt Century 21 Shows dropped the ball when they neglected to get the drug tests and background checks usually requested from Concessions. Bell noted, however, that Keith Concessions has been blacklisted due to this incident.

The U.S. Marshals said Crisp was in the perfect position to remain under the radar, and had a much higher risk of re-offending. He was booked into the Williamson County jail, and extradited back to Brooks County, Georgia. A jail official said he is being held without bond.

"We wake up every morning looking forward to catching guys like this,” said Gomez. “And continue to lock up the Clint Crisps' of the nation."