Sex offender who staged own kidnapping found 13 years later enrolled in NY college under fake name: police

A child sex predator who allegedly faked his own kidnapping 13 years ago to escape criminal charges was finally arrested last week at an upstate New York college while enrolled under a fake name, authorities said.

Anthony Lennon — one of Oklahoma’s “Ten Most Wanted” fugitives — was busted on Oct. 30 after investigators discovered he was attending the State University of New York [SUNY] Canton under the alias “Justin Phillips,” according to police and school officials.

“He evaded justice for far too long but will now face the consequences of his actions,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement.

The 44-year-old was first convicted in 2008 of child porn possession after a friend using his computer found 50 gigabytes of “graphic” child sex abuse, the AG’s office said. 

He was sentenced to 20 years but was out on supervised release when he was charged with child porn possession again in 2012.

However when police went to arrest Lennon at the motel at which he was working, he “staged an elaborate and bloody abduction and robbery scene, leaving behind falsified evidence to make it appear he had been abducted,” according to the Moore Police Department.

Police had received a call from the motel owner the night before Lennon was supposed to be collared, claiming he had disappeared overnight on March 11, 2012, according to the complaint obtained by NBC News.

“Detectives noticed a pool of blood, Lennon’s shoe, shirt buttons, bloody shoe prints, and money missing from the hotel money drawer,” the complaint said. “After examining the crime scene, interviewing family members, friends, and individuals in the community, it was determined that the circumstances were suspicious.”

Lennon had withdrawn all of his money from his bank accounts before he vanished and avoided capture for 13 years, despite reported sightings from North Carolina to Texas.

The fugitive got a state ID, birth certificate and enrolled at SUNY Canton under the name “Justin Phillips.” He also made several attempts to get a passport, according to the complaint.

A SUNY Canton spokesperson told The Post he was suspended and banned from campus the day after his arrest.

He was arrested and interviewed under the false name, but fingerprints revealed he was really Lennon, according to the US Marshals Service.

Lennon, as Justin Phillips, had enrolled in the university’s engineering science program in fall 2024. He was a full-time student and lived off-campus.

“The student was only known to the college as Justin Phillips and none of our records indicate that he had a prior identity,” the spokesperson said.