Hillsborough County Deputies say they used a secret investigative technology to track down a man who was accused of exposing himself to a child in 1993.
Deputies say 60-year-old Winston Minor, who had been living in Polk County, successfully used a false identity when he was originally arrested for the crime in Seffner. Court documents show he was charged under the name Winston Ford. He was released from jail during court proceedings, but never came to court. A warrant has been out for his arrest since 1993.
Corporal Larry McKinnon, with the HCSO, says it used to be much easier for criminals to use fake identities, but recent technology has made it difficult.
“That’s the benefit these criminals have had over the past 30 or 40 years, because there wasn’t a state wide data system that entered these people in there and there’s still thousands of cases out there,” McKinnon said.
Despite being arrested multiple times in Polk County on similar charges, Minor was never linked back to the 1993 crime. He also wasn’t connected when he was arrested for sex battery in Hillsborough County in 1995. That case was eventually dropped.
McKinnon wouldn’t speak about the new technology, only saying it’s helped solve many cold cases. He said finger prints helped confirm Minor’s identity.
