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The Durant Daily Democrat > Archives > News > Mixed martial arts star arrested for failure to register as sex offender

Mixed martial arts star arrested for failure to register as sex offender

By MATT SWEARENGIN
managing editor
Published:
Tuesday, April 29, 2008 12:42 PM CDT
A mixed martial arts star wanted in Bryan County for failing to register as a sex offender was arrested Monday in Denison, Texas, by Bryan County Sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals.

Patrick Bouvier Smith, 44, Durant, was charged earlier this month with failing to register as a sex offender when he moved to a residence east of Durant, according to court papers.

The charge was the result of an investigation by Bryan County Sheriff’s Investigator Victor Porter, who began investigating Smith in March, following Smith’s arrest for attempting to elude police and speeding.

Smith, according to court documents, was convicted in 1999 in Adams County, Colo., for sexual assault on a child. According to Porter, Smith was convicted of fondling a 14-year-old girl.

He was arrested in Denison without incident, according to Bryan County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Pelto. He was brought to Bryan County early Monday evening and booked into jail.

Smith is a mixed martial artist who has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He recently fought in New Jersey, according to Porter, who said Smith came to Bryan County after meeting a local gym owner at a fight in Tulsa. Smith had previously been instructing martial arts in Durant, according to Porter.

Smith is expected to have his initial court appearance on the charge today. Federal charges against him are a possibility, according to the sheriff’s office.

In another, unrelated court case, a jury acquitted a man of kidnapping during a trial held Monday. Jurors deliberated for two hours and 11 minutes before finding Nehemiah Martin Hellems, 25, not guilty of a charge of helping kidnap a woman in August and holding her at a Durant motel room.

A court affidavit states that the woman told authorities Jimmie Ray Rodgers, 26, brandished a firearm and made her get in his vehicle. She said that she was taken to a motel room that was occupied by other individuals.

She fled after a methamphetamine lab caught fire, according to authorities. Rodgers was upset with the woman for “snitching” on his father regarding drug crimes, a drug agent said during the investigation. Hellems was identified as being one of the men in the motel room when the alleged victim viewed a photo lineup. Rodgers pleaded guilty earlier this year to methamphetamine manufacture and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

According to the sheriff’s office, Hellems is still wanted in Fannin County, Texas, for a charge there.