A convicted child molester who fled before he could be sentenced in Douglas County District Court was caught Friday afternoon in Arizona.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Matt Cahill said U.S. marshals in Flagstaff, Ariz., took former Lawrence resident Joseph Schwartz into custody shortly after 3:30 p.m. at the Grand Canyon.

Schwartz was found camping in a recreational vehicle with a woman in her 20s.

“They were not in a campground,” Cahill said. “The vehicle was in the forest, pulled way off the beaten track.”

Schwartz, who was facing more than 12 years in prison after being convicted of two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child March 9, failed to report to the jail March 23 and did not show up for his sentencing hearing April 5.

District Court Judge Michael Malone issued two bench warrants for his arrest and revoked his $50,000 bond.

U.S. marshals got involved with the case Monday at the request of Douglas County officials. Cahill declined to say what led authorities to the Grand Canyon area, but said they were pretty confident as of late Wednesday evening that Schwartz was in the vicinity.

“They were getting a little discouraged,” he said. “U.S. marshals from Flagstaff had been up at the park, showing his picture, going to campgrounds and hotels and didn’t find anything.”

Cahill said Schwartz was taken into custody without incident and that he admitted who he was.

He was taken to a county jail near Flagstaff where he now faces an extradition hearing before he can be brought back to Kansas.

Cahill said the U.S. Attorney’s Office is also considering filing federal charges against Schwartz under the new Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act passed last summer.

The law makes it a federal crime for sex offenders to violate the requirement to register.

Cahill said Schwartz gave a false address on the Missouri Sex Offender Registry. He’s registered as living at a business in Parkville, Mo., but Cahill said before Schwartz fled to Arizona, he was actually living in a duplex in Kansas City, Mo.