Court document: Man with 25-year-record of sexually abusing children had lived in Joplin since October

The former Texas man arrested by federal marshals for living in Newton County since October and not registering as a sex offender was staying at the Sunrise Inn in Joplin, according to a motion for a detention hearing filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Gabriel Melchor, 52, told Joplin Police Department officer Seth Dear he had been living in Missouri for two years.

The detention motion provided detailed information about the long history of child sesual abuse compiled by Melchor, dating back a quarter of a century:

From the motion:

In relation to the nature and circumstances of the offenses charged, on February 21, 2019, the grand jury returned an indictment charging the defendant with failure to register as a sex offender. 

The defendant, a convicted sex offender, was located by law enforcement residing at Sunrise Inn, in Joplin, Missouri; however, the State of Missouri had no record of the defendant ever having registered as a sex offender. 








In relation to the weight of the evidence supporting the charges in the Indictment, on February 19, 2019, Joplin, Missouri, Police Department Officer (JPD) Seth Dear located the defendant residing at Sunrise Inn, in Joplin, Missouri. 

Officer Dear ran the defendant through dispatch and discovered he had a warrant out of Texas for failure to register as a sex offender. The defendant, who had a Missouri Department of Revenue issued nondriver's identification card that was issued on October 10, 2018, stated he moved to Missouri a couple of years ago. 

The defendant had previously been convicted of indecency with a child sexual contact, in two separate cases, in Bastrop County, Texas. 

The victim was a 13-year-old female, and based upon this conviction the defendant is a Tier III offender who must register for life. Certified documentation form the State of Texas Sex Offender Registry showed that the defendant last completed a sex offender registration on April 7, 2017, in Caldwell County, Texas. 








On that registration form, the defendant acknowledged through his initials and signature that he understood his lifetime registration requirements, that he was required to inform the registrar of any change in address, and that he must register within seven days of moving to another state. 

On August 15, 2017, Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office attempted to locate the defendant at his last registered address, but were advised by another resident that the defendant no longer (lived there). 

Law enforcement confirmed that the defendant had never registered with the State of Missouri. 

In relation to the history and characteristics of the defendant, the defendant has multiple prior convictions including two convictions for indecency with a child sexual contact, sexual assault in the fourth degree, and two convictions for failure to register as a sex offender.