Two of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders are back in custody after their arrests last week, DPS announced Wednesday.
Phillip Mark Ward, of Fort Worth, was arrested on Feb. 8 in Fort Worth, and Joe Louis Hernandez, of Galveston, turned himself into the Galveston Police Department on Feb. 10.
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Ward, 59, was arrested while at a shelter by the Fort Worth Police Department and the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force.
Ward had been wanted since March 2021, when the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a warrant for a parole violation. The Fort Worth Police Department also issued a warrant for failure to register as a sex offender.
In 1992, Ward was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child following incidents involving an 8-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy. He was sentenced to 75 years in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison. He was released on parole in February 2017.
Hernandez, 44, turned himself in at the Galveston Police Department. He had been wanted since January 2021, when Galveston police issued a warrant for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
In 1998, Hernandez was convicted of three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child for incidents involving girls ages 2 and 7. He was sentenced to eight years in a TDCJ prison. In 2007, Hernandez was convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and sentenced to two years in prison. In 2010, he was convicted of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements and was given three years in prison.