A Turlock Police detective’s curiosity led to the arrest of an unregistered sex offender, who just a day before had been verbally accosting women at a Turlock park.

Detective Tim Redd’s dogged pursuit of the case resulted in the arrest of Anjelo Kanef, 29, of Turlock on charges of failure to register as a sex offender.

The chain of events began around 8:15 a.m. Monday when the police department received a report of a man making rude and obscene gestures to females walking by his vehicle at Donnelly Park.

The first officers to arrive found Kanef parked in his vehicle next to a laptop computer with pornography on it as well as other adult products. The officers also found other items in his vehicle that made them suspicious and learned that he had previously been arrested several times for indecent exposure and was currently on probation for it, said Turlock Police spokesperson Sgt. Neil Cervenka.

Cervenka said that because no victim came forward, the officers could only cite Kanef for possession of narcotics paraphernalia and release him.

However, the case did not end there, at least for Redd, who was listening to the incident on his police radio. Redd’s previous work on sex offense cases had him thinking that it would be odd to have a suspect arrested three times for indecent exposure, convicted of it and not be required to register as a sex offender. But, because the court was closed for the holiday, Redd was unable to verify his suspicion.

At 8 a.m. Tuesday Redd contacted Stanislaus County Superior Court and learned that Kanef has been ordered to register at his last court appearance during the first week of May. The registration has to be completed within five days of the order and Kanef was well beyond the five-day time frame.

Redd, working with patrol officers, located Kanef and placed him under arrest.

“The men and women of the Turlock Police Department are committed to the safety of this community,” said Turlock Police Chief Nino Amirfar. “This is just one example of how all of our staff works as a team to provide that safety. Detective Redd took the initiative to protect the public from this sex offender.”

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call Redd at 664-7325. You can also contact the Turlock Police Department’s Tip Line at 668-5550 extension 6780 or email at tpdtipline@turlock.ca.us.