Top 10 wanted sex offender in Texas with ties to Abilene, Sweetwater captured

Steve Garcia Lopez

One of the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders — with ties to Abilene and Sweetwater — has been captured, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety. 

Steve Garcia Lopez, 53, was captured Friday in Victoria, the release said. 

Garcia was wanted for failure to register as a sex offender, DPS said. 

More:Wanted sex offender Steve Garcia Lopez has ties to Abilene, Sweetwater

Working off a Crime Stoppers tip, DPS special agents, along with deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service, located and apprehended Lopez. A $3,000 tip award will be paid in connection with the case, the DPS said.

In 1999, Lopez was convicted in Nolan County of aggravated sexual assault involving a 10-year-old girl and sentenced to five years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison, according to a wanted poster on the DPS website.

He returned to prison in 2014 after being convicted in Nolan County on a sex offender registration violation. He was discharged from TDCJ in July 2016, the poster said. 

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for Lopez on Aug. 22, 2018, for failure to register as a sex offender, the poster said. 

In 2019, DPS and other agencies have arrested 24 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives and Sex Offenders, including 13 sex offenders and nine gang members, the release said. 

For information on other individuals wanted by the DPS, visit dps.texas.gov. 

More:Abilene police arrest man wanted for assaulting peace officer in Johnson County

Laura Gutschke is a general assignment reporter and food columnist and manages online content for the Reporter-News.  If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com