U.S. Marshals Conduct Operation Adam’s Watch to Recognize 20th Anniversary of Adam Walsh Act

WASHINGTON – The United States Marshals Service (USMS), along with state and local agencies in thirty-seven federal judicial districts and geographical locations across the United States, led a multi-week enforcement operation that resulted in the arrest of more than 330 fugitive wanted for failure to register as a sex offender, sex assault, or other sex offenses.

The arrests include 234 fugitives wanted on state charges for failure to register as a sex offender, including 5 offenders charged with violation of federal statute 18 USC 2250, failure to register as a sex offender. In addition, 96 fugitive sex offenders wanted on sex assault and other sex charges were located and arrested.

Operation Adam’s Watch, named in honor of Adam Walsh, was conducted to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Adam Walsh Act (AWA). The operation focused on identifying, locating, and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders, assisting our state and local partners with verifying offenders’ compliance with their mandated registration requirements.

"The USMS, having a robust network of federal, state, and local partners, was the logical choice to implement the Adam Walsh Act,” said U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta. "We are the best in the world at finding people. We have the tools and the talent no one else has. When the Adam Walsh Act became law, it made sense for us, along with our partners, to make sure noncompliant sex offenders are back off the streets and not a threat to those who could become victims."

"As we observe Adam Walsh Remembrance Day and the 20th anniversary of the Adam Walsh Act, I'm reminded that my brother's legacy isn't defined by what happened to him, but by the lives that continue to be protected because people refused to let his story end in tragedy,” said Callahan Walsh, Executive Director of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “Every time the U.S. Marshals Service apprehends an offender who threatens children, every time NCMEC helps law enforcement recover a missing child or support an investigation, we're carrying that legacy forward. Together, we're proving that the strongest tool we have to protect children is partnership."

Operation Adam’s Watch is representative of the ongoing efforts of the Marshals Service and its partners to keep communities safe by locating and apprehending fugitive sex offenders. Conducted over a multi-week period concluding on July 24, 2026, thirty-seven Federal judicial districts throughout the states of Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia joined in the unified efforts to ensure the success of Operation Adam’s Watch.

Adam Walsh's abduction and murder served as a catalyst for change in the way the nation deals with crimes against children. This tragedy launched his parents, John and Reve Walsh, on a lifelong mission to prevent similar attacks on other children. The Walsh's efforts resulted in the establishment of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Annually, USMS conducts more than 200 sex offender operations, assisting state and local agencies with sex offender compliance and enforcement actions across the nation. Since inception of the Adam Walsh Act, the United States Marshals Service has opened 52,000 investigations for federal Failure to Register violations and closed by arrest more than 7,500 federal warrants for violations of 18 USC 2250). In addition to enforcement of the Adam Walsh Act, the United States Marshals Service prioritizes sex offense warrants under its fugitive mission. Since 2006, the Marshals Service and its fugitive task forces partners have closed by arrest 250,000 felony warrants for fugitives wanted on sex offense, sex assault, or failure to register related warrants.

The USMS has executed more than 5,300 sex offender compliance and enforcement operations, partnering with law enforcement officers from state and local law enforcement agencies in all 50 states and U.S. territories. During these operations, the U.S. Marshals Service assisted state and local enforcement partners with more than 842,000 compliance checks on known sex offenders.