Man wanted by FBI arrested in Springfield; man who knew him reacts
A man wanted by the FBI for allegedly molesting several young girls across the United States was arrested Thursday by Springfield police.
Johnny Benjamin Napier, 55, was arrested at a trailer park in the 1500 block of North Barnes Avenue at about 11:45 a.m.. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Napier in April in Montana after he was charged federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Following Napier's arrest, Springfield police released him to the custody of the FBI. Napier is alleged to have molested young girls, and an FBI wanted poster said he "should be considered dangerous to children."
A neighbor of Napier's in the trailer park called Springfield police to say he believed the man, whom he knew by "Sean," was actually Napier — and the neighbor told police he was aware "Sean" was wanted by the FBI. Police then contacted Napier by phone, but he said he was not in his trailer. Police maintained a perimeter around the trailer for several hours before a man exited a nearby laundromat and told officers he was the individual they were looking for.
The name of the neighbor who called police is redacted from an incident report; reached by phone by the News-Leader, the neighbor declined to comment on the record.
Another Springfield resident who said he saw Napier about 10 times did agree to speak with the News-Leader. James Bulman said he has a friend who lives in the trailer park, and first met Napier — whom he also knew as Sean — about three or four months ago. Bulman was thinking of having some work done on his car, and his friend told him that Napier was a good mechanic. Bulman wasn't sure when Napier first moved to Springfield.
In June 2010, police in Comanche, Texas, obtained a state arrest warrant for Johnny Benjamin Napier for the offense of indecency with a child by contact, according to the FBI. Napier allegedly left town after being charged, and additional warrants were issued by the District Court of Comanche County, Texas, in April and August 2011 when Napier allegedly failed to appear in court. Another warrant was issued in October 2011 after Napier allegedly jumped bail.
Napier also allegedly molested a young child repeatedly while living under the fake identity of Sean Denning in Baker, Mont., from May 2011 to August 2013.
In addition, Napier is accused of repeatedly molesting a young child while living in Baker, Montana, from May 1, 2011 to August 20, 2013, under the same alias. After learning of an investigation into these crimes, Napier allegedly left town; the FBI says he had not been seen since Aug. 20, 2013 in Miles City, Mont.
In August 2013, Baker Police Department obtained a state arrest warrant for the unknown subject who used the name Sean Denning. After identifying the subject as Napier, the Montana Sixteenth Judicial District Court, Fallon County, Mont., issued a new state arrest warrant based on Napier's charges of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
Bulman knew nothing about the past of the man he knew as Sean until Thursday morning, when he saw a Facebook post on a page called Fugitive Watch that advertised Napier as a wanted fugitive. Bulman had always thought Napier seemed like an amicable person.
"I was shocked," Bulman said. "He just always seemed like an agreeable person; I didn't get any weird vibes."
"Almost every time I saw him he was helping somebody with something," Bulman said.
The only thing unusual about Napier, Bulman said, was that Bulman was told Napier had said he was independently wealthy.
"That was the only thing that threw me off — that he, by his own admission, had a million dollars but was living in a trailer park," he said.
Bulman's account of Napier is similar to the description on Napier's wanted poster. The FBI described Napier as a handyman, and said he had worked as an administrator at an assisted living facility at some point. He was described as a "snappy" dresser obsessed with gold jewelry who enjoys model airplanes. The agency said that Napier liked to travel by bus, and claimed he was independently wealthy from selling three car repair garages in Chicago.
A $10,000 reward had been offered for information leading to Napier's arrest; it's not immediately clear if and how that reward will be distributed.