Oprah rewards two viewers who helped FBI capture accused sex offender

Wednesday, October 12th 2005, 8:33 am

By: News On 6

FARGO, N.D. (AP) _ Two friends who identified a convicted sex offender profiled on ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' received $50,000 checks for their part in capturing the fugitive from Indiana.

The arrest of William C. Davis, 33, came just days after Winfrey announced a campaign to track down sex offenders. Another fugitive who was wanted in Ohio also has been arrested since the broadcast, officials said.

Karie Miller, of Fargo, and Jean Rosenthal, of Moorhead, Minn., held hands Tuesday while walking onto the set of ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to a standing ovation by the audience.

Miller tipped off FBI agents last week, reporting that Davis lived above her family in a north Fargo apartment. Davis was arrested in Fargo on Thursday, two days after Winfrey broadcast his face and offered $100,000 for information leading to his capture.

``This is why I say you were so courageous, because you know what courage is,'' Winfrey told the women. ``It's being scared but doing it anyway.''

Rosenthal also saw Winfrey's Oct. 4 show on fugitives accused of preying on children when she recognized the profile of a man she knew as Mark Allen Davis. After Miller checked the profile, she called FBI agents in Minneapolis to turn in the neighbor of her friend.

Authorities wanted Davis, of Wadesville, Ind., on felony charges of molesting three Indiana boys and failing to register as a sex offender.

Davis, who was convicted of child molestation in 1992, used an Indiana birth certificate and driver's license to obtain a North Dakota license in his brother's name.

Another accused sex offender, Niles Scott, was arrested in Belize after a woman recognized him on ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and contacted local authorities, according to an FBI statement posted on Winfrey's Web site.

Scott, 50, was wanted in the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, and he has been returned to Cleveland to face charges, the FBI said.

``The FBI is very thankful to the Oprah Winfrey show and the general public for helping us catch this dangerous fugitive,'' said Cleveland FBI agent Scott Wilson.