The Phoenix Police Department on Friday said a sex offender who escaped from a supervised outing in Phoenix on Saturday was helped by a female accomplice in his flight to North Dakota.

Randy Layton, 38, escaped from the custody of Arizona State Hospital’s Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center staff on Saturday while at the Red Wok Buffet near 34th Street and Thomas Road. 

Patients at the facility are all men who are sexually violent who have completed their prison sentences but have been ordered by a judge to stay at the center, according to Holly Ward, spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Health Services.

?Court records show that Layton was arrested in 2003 for attempting to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He was admitted to prison in 2005 and was released from prison in 2010.

According to police, Layton received assistance from 38-year-old Amber Wilson shortly after his escape.

Police said the duo had had an “ongoing relationship” during Layton’s time at the treatment facility.

Officials said Wilson had made “extensive arrangements to sever local ties and prepare to move out of the state” starting on April 28 and was seen with Layton near Central and Dunlap avenues shortly after his escape on April 29. Layton had removed an electronic monitoring device, which was found nearby.

The pair used connections in North Dakota to find a place to stay, police said, and were located by U.S. marshals and the Dickinson, North Dakota, Police Department on Thursday. 

Wilson attempted to conceal Layton’s location, police said, and she was taken into custody on suspicion of hindering their investigation, according to Sgt. Vince Lewis, Phoenix police spokesman.

An arrest warrant for Wilson was issued in Maricopa County on Friday, Lewis said.

He said it was likely that Wilson would be extradited back to Arizona. 

On Wednesday, a felony warrant out of Maricopa County was issued for Layton’s arrest on suspicion of escape and tampering with a monitoring device.

READ MORE:

Sex offender caught in North Dakota

Warrant issued for treatment-center patient

Patient escapes from Arizona State Hospital program for sexually violent persons

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