Homeless Man at Center of Viral Story Arrested on Outstanding Warrant
People were touched by his story and donated thousands of dollars to help.
— -- The homeless man who was helped after a woman used her lottery winnings to rent him a motel room to get him out of the cold has been arrested on an outstanding warrant. He was charged with failing to register as a sex offender.
Glenn A. Williams, 59, was arraigned in New Bedford District Court on Thursday and released without bail, according to the court clerk's office. The court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
New Bedford police Detective Capt. Steven Vicente said Williams was originally charged with indecent assault on a minor in 1994. Williams is listed as a Level 2 sex offender. The charge is a felony.
Williams was located at a multi-family residence in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Lt. Amos Melo said. Police said his relationship to the residents at the home was unclear.
Williams became a sensation when Sofia Andrade used her winnings from a $200 scratch-off ticket to buy him a three-night stay at the Rosewood Motel in East Wareham, Massachusetts. The 28-year-old said she felt compelled to help him get off the streets on one of the coldest days of the year.
Andrade wrote a post on Facebook about Williams' situation and asked people to help him. They did – donating clothing and at least $13,000 through the crowdfunding website GoFundMe. The page for that campaign has since been taken down.
Andrade did not return requests for comment on Thursday night but appeared to address the situation on her Facebook page.
"I just wanted to take the time so say thank you to everyone who despite the news still had nice things to say," she wrote. “I know I shouldn't listen to the nay sayers and negative but I take things very personally its just the person I AM. At the end of the day its not our place to play judge and jury everyone has a past theyre not always proud of [sic]."
She also posted on Facebook that Williams’ arrest did not change her feelings toward helping those in need, and asked people to refrain from “negative comments."
"We want everyone who has donated to feel assured that the money raised thus far from the GoFundMe account will now be going directly to local charities and organizations that work with the homeless community in the area," she wrote. "We could not have known this as we did not discriminate when helping another human in need. We did not make and will continue to not make judgements [sic] about anybody in this situation."
He was ordered to reappear in court on March 16. His court-appointed attorney could not be reached immediately on Friday afternoon.
ABC News could not reach Williams for comment.
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