New Jersey cops have launched a manhunt for a 25-year-old “repetitive compulsive’’ sex offender who broke out of a health department van on his way to a Newark hospital last week.
Nicholas Voutsas, who is listed as a Tier 2 sex offender on the Garden State’s registry, was being transported to University Hospital on Thursday when he broke free around 9 a.m. — and is still on the loose, state police said in a press release.
“As a result, the initial investigative agency, the New Jersey Human Services Police Department, charged Nicholas Voutsas with escape,” the release said. “He was last seen in the area of University Hospital near South Range Avenue and Bergen Street in Newark, Essex County.
“At the time of his escape he was wearing a burgundy or maroon winter coat.”
State police did not provide details of Voutsas’ sex offenses, but records show he lured a child and was convicted of second-degree endangerment in 2022, according to the outlet New Jersey 101.5.
It wasn’t clear why he was being taken to the hospital.
Voutsas is listed on the state registry as being a “moderate risk ” of re-offense, a designation that means schools and daycares must be notified about him.
He is listed as 5 feet, 11inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes and a mole on his right cheek.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact the New Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit tip line at 1-800-437-7839 or at fugitiveinformation@njsp.gov.
