The VIPD has not released a mugshot of the suspect. The article will be updated if one becomes available.
ST. CROIX — A registered sex offender with prior convictions in Massachusetts was taken into custody Monday after authorities determined he had failed to comply with local registration requirements.
Daniel Cove was arrested following his release from the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility earlier that day, where he had been held on trespassing charges. Law enforcement officials had been attempting to locate him since he failed to report to the Department of Justice earlier this month, as required.
Cove was convicted in 2022 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. He moved to the Virgin Islands in 2013. Records indicate that he last renewed his registration as a sex offender in this jurisdiction in August 2025.
In early February 2026, law enforcement officials attempted to contact Mr. Cove using the telephone numbers and email address listed in his registration file but were unsuccessful. A visit to his last registered home address also did not yield results, as the property owner informed authorities that Mr. Cove had moved out several months earlier.
That discovery prompted a coordinated search over the following weeks. Customs and Border Protection agents later confirmed that there was no record of Mr. Cove traveling out of the territory since 2024.
His location remained unknown until Saturday, February 21, when he was arrested for trespassing on the property of Budget Rent A Car in Christiansted.
On Monday, the special agent assigned to the search received notification from the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility that Cove was being released after posting bail on the trespassing charge. The agent went to the facility and arrested him on two counts of failing to register as a sex offender.
Unable to post bail on the new charges, Cove was returned to custody to await his initial court appearance.
A court hearing was scheduled for Tuesday; however, as of press time, there was no publicly available court record indicating whether the advice of rights hearing had taken place.
Cove previously pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender as part of a 2023 plea agreement. That agreement also included a guilty plea to second-degree burglary. While details of the sentence imposed in April 2024 were not publicly available as of press time, the plea agreement called for time served and a fine at the court’s discretion.
In addition to those matters, Mr. Cove has multiple prior convictions for various criminal offenses dating back to 2014.
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