ALCOA, Tenn. (WVLT) – A convicted sex offender was arrested Wednesday morning at McGhee Tyson Airport for violating travel rules.

According to District Attorney General Russell Johnson, 47-year-old Benjamin Peters, of Meigs County, did not report a trip to Belize to authorities.

Benjamin Peters (Tennessee Sex Offender Registry)

As part of the sex offender rules, Johnson said an offender must report any out of country travel at least 21 days before exiting the country and must be approved for foreign travel.

“There are monitoring networks that exist that cross reference registered sex offenders with booked travel itineraries,” Johnson said.

Johnson said U.S. Marshals received a tip about Peters’ planned travel and reported it to the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday. It was then reported to DTF Deputy Director Brendan Deboer, who pulled Peters out of the line at the gate to board the plane to confirm his identity and took him into custody.

Three other people were boarding the plane with Peters, and Johnson said they “apparently continued with their flight and travel plans.”

Peters, who is a registered sex offender from California and moved to Tennessee about three years ago, was taken to Blount County Jail, where the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office took him back to their county jail for questioning.

“A violation of this nature of the state sex offender registry carries a mandatory minimum 90 days in jail,” Johnson said. “It is possible that there may be a federal prosecution of this offender in parallel with the state prosecution.”

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation maintains the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry, which can be found by clicking here.

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