Richard Nash - Sex Offender proves he can't follow rules

A "high risk" convicted sex offender wanted on a $100,000 warrant was arrested at a Salinas motel Tuesday morning, the Sheriff's Office reported.

Richard Nash, 58, was arrested by a Salinas police detective around 11 a.m., Sgt. Robin Mitchell of the Sheriff's Office Sex Crimes Unit said. She said a Sheriff's Office detective developed information that Nash was staying at the motel and asked police there to investigate.

Nash was released from a Santa Cruz County Jail on Sept. 12 after a mistrial - jurors could not reach a verdict - on the charge he had not registered as a sex offender at the address where he was living. Nash, who served prison time at Atascadero State Hospital, was convicted of kidnapping and molesting two children - a young girl and a teenage girl - in separate incidents in Lake County, according to authorities.

He was arrested again in August 2007 when he was found living in a Corralitos home different than the address he had listed with the Sheriff's Office. He was not convicted of that charge and was released from jail.

District Attorney Bob Lee and prosecutor Ross Taylor re-filed the sex registrant violation charge against Nash, which led to a judge issuing the arrest warrant.

Nash was booked into Monterey County Jail on the warrant and will be transported back to Santa Cruz County for a court appearance later this week, Mitchell said.