Robert Oliver Parmer - Repeat Sex Offender - Went from Girls to Boys

A registered sex offender is behind bars after he allegedly molested a boy in a town just outside Harlingen.

Palm Valley police arrested 34-year-old Robert Oliver Parmer under an indecency with a child by contact charge on Thursday.

Investigators said the boy made an outcry about two weeks ago.

Chief Alvaro Garcia told Action 4 News that officers were able to secure an arrest warrant based on a forensic interview with the boy.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety Sex Offender Database, Parmer served two years of prison back in 1999 for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.

State records show that Parmer is unemployed and was last listed as living on the 1700 block of Bobby Jones Drive in Palm Valley.

Parmer was listed in the sex offender database as a “moderate” risk level.

Chief Garcia told Action 4 News that Parmer moved to Palm Valley back in April and complied with state law by updating his address with the sex offender registry.

Garcia said investigators believe the Palm Valley case is an isolated incident.

Parmer appeared before Cameron County Justice of the Peace Sallie Gonzales on Thursday where he received a $50,000 dollar bond.

The 34-year-old man remains in custody at the Cameron County Jail.

If convicted in the Palm Valley case, Parmer could face two to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000 dollars.

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

"On average most sex offenders are never caught again for a new sex offense, after five years, between 10 and 15 percent of sex offenders are detected, often convicted, of committing a new sex offense. If you follow them for ten years the rates go up somewhat, if you follow them as long as we’ve been able to follow them, which is about 20 years, the rates go up to somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the total sample will eventually be caught for a new sex offense."

Dr. R. Karl Hansen