MiddletownJournal.com

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HAMILTON — The arrest of a notorious sex offender suspected of various crimes in Butler and Warren counties was the result of a tip called in by a resident, officials said.

Oxford police arrested Michael Allen Hamblin, 38, at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26, about three hours after his photograph appeared in the news media.

Mason police have charged Hamblin, a "Tier III" sex offender, with three counts of child enticement. He is being held in the Warren County Jail.

Police in Liberty Twp. and Monroe will be questioning Hamblin, whose last known address was in the 5000 block of Augspurger Road, about recent reports of similar crimes in their communities, officials said.

The arrest followed a tip received by the Butler County Sheriff's Office from someone who recognized Hamblin at a McDonalds restaurant in Oxford, said Butler County Sgt. Monte Mayer. Oxford police arrested Hamblin near the railroad tracks on North College Avenue, Mayer said.

Oxford police delivered Hamblin to the sheriff's office in Hamilton about 4 p.m. He was held at the sheriff's office until Mason police took him to the Warren County Jail.

Hamblin is a repeat offender whose crimes against children led to tougher state laws against sexual predators. Last June, Hamblin was sentenced to 90 days in the Butler County Jail stemming from a December 2006 arrest for public indecency. He was charged with the same crime in Warren County for a separate incident that occurred two days earlier. He was already serving a sentence at the London Correctional Institute for an unrelated crime.