Lee County fugitive caught fleeing to Cuba after giving minor narcotics in December

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)— A registered sex offender who fled to Cuba after allegedly giving drugs to an underage paddleboarder in December has been captured and returned to the United States.

Worden Bourn, 63, was arrested in December after the Lee County Sheriff's Office found a missing juvenile under the influence of narcotics on Bourn's sailboat.

" At no time did we have any account that there was any type of sexual assault," said Sheriff Carmine Marceno about the investigation. "Where he failed was giving that juvenile narcotics and then all the other registrants that he did not do."

Man arrested; connected to previously missing Bunche Beach paddleboarder

LEE COUNTY, Fla. - The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man accused of providing drugs and alcohol to a teenager, adding that this is connected to a previously missing paddleboater in Bunche Beach.

Bourn was arrested in February facing multiple charges including drug delivery to a minor and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. Bourn failed to show up to Lee County court.

LCSO began searching for Bourn with their child predator unit. LCSO says Bourn did not properly inform law enforcement of his Facebook accounts or that he was leaving the country.

"All the different things that an offender or predator would have to do, he did not do," said Sheriff Marceno.

The sheriff's office says Bourn got rid of his sailboat the juvenile was found on, bought a different boat, and then fled the country. Cuban officials then found Bourn on a boat without gas on February 26.

"Cuban officials immediately make contact with him as they run his history, they find out that he has warrants," said the sheriff.

The U.S. Marshals flew Bourn back to Miami Monday night. He was booked into Miami-Dade jail.

LCSO is now working to bring Bourn back to Lee County to face his original and additional charges. Sheriff Carmine Marceno emphasized the importance of local, state and federal law enforcement working together to ensure Bourn was caught.