NEWTON, N.C. (WHKY) – A 54-year-old Wilkes County man was arrested Thursday by authorities in Catawba County on felony charges related to the state’s sex offender registration requirements.

Leroy Allen Loper of Thurmond was taken into custody today (July 30) by the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division. He is charged with two counts of felony failure to register as a sex offender.

Loper is a sex offender as a result of a conviction in 2018 in Catawba County for second-degree forcible sex offense. He was released from prison in 2023.

Loper was placed in the Catawba County Detention Facility under a $200,000 secured bond. He was scheduled to make his first appearance in Catawba County District Court today.