Marshals arrest man in Wilmington wanted for sex crimes in Tennessee

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A man who was wanted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for almost three years on nearly two dozen sex-related crimes there was arrested by US Marshals in Wilmington yesterday.

According to a spokesperson from the TBI, the Marshals Service and several other agencies arrested Stephen Eugene Beck, 42, on Dapple Court yesterday. Investigators say he was living here under a stolen identity.

A Wilson County (TN) Sheriff’s Office asked the TBI to add Beck to Tennessee’s “Top Ten Most Wanted” list for fugitives after they say he failed to appear in court back in July 2011. They say that was when Beck was supposed to enter a plea deal or set a trial date on several charges for child rape and sex crimes.

The TBI spokesman says Beck’s arrest comes after multiple agencies searched for him for nearly three years in an investigation involving hundreds of tips, thousands of leads across 17 states. Authorities say they finally found out Beck had moved to the Wilmington area back in June.

When Marshals arrested Beck at his home at 124 Dapple Court, they also discovered drugs inside, which he faces charges for in New Hanover County while he waits for extradition.

In August 2010, Beck was charged in Wilson County, TN, on six counts of rape of a child and 14 counts of rape. A grand jury also indicted him in August 2010 in Rutherford County, TN, on three counts of rape of a child. He was out on $150,000 bond in Wilson County and a $1 million bond in Rutherford County.