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Las Cruces Barber Shop Owner, Convicted Sex Offender, Arrested

 A Las Cruces man who was operating a barber shop has been arrested on charges that he failed to notify his probation officer about his business location. A subsequent investigation also accuses the man of enticing an underage girl.

   According to a detective with the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department Sex Offender Registration Unit, Thomas Andrew Coleman, 53, had legally obtained a barber’s license and a permit to run a business, but the location of his “Smooth Cuts” salon on South Main Street in Las Cruces was not the same address reported to the Sex Offender Registration Unit or his probation officer. 

   Court documents show Coleman is a current registered sex offender from a 1988 conviction for aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. The incidents reportedly occurred in Texas. By law, a convicted sex offender is required to notify, in writing, any change of address regarding his place of employment within five days to the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, the agency entrusted with registering and monitoring sex offenders.

   During the investigation, a sheriff’s detective learned that Coleman is the focus of an investigation regarding an alleged proposition by Coleman to a girl under the age of 16. According to court documents, Coleman is accused of offering the girl a massage. Coleman also allegedly told the girl she could go to his barber shop anytime to watch movies.

Coleman was arrested Wednesday on a probation violation. Thursday, detectives filed additional charges on Coleman for failure to register, a fourth-degree felony. Magistrate Judge Kent Wingenroth ordered that Coleman be held without bond.

Detectives have reason to believe there could be additional victims. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, (575) 525-8872

Information from Doña Ana County