Convicted sex offender found dead in vehicle

When Urbandale police seized a computer from his mother's home earlier this year, Robert Putney Jr. told an officer he had no intention of returning to prison, where he'd spent years as a convicted sex abuser. On Monday - the same day he was to have been questioned further by Urbandale police in connection with an investigation into alleged child pornography - Putney's body was found in a car near downtown Des Moines. The 40-year-old registered sex offender apparently gassed himself with chemicals in a car at 18th and High streets. [...]

Putney was sentenced to a 15-year prison term in August 1992 for sex-related charges involving teenage boys. He pleaded guilty to two counts of lascivious acts with a child, enticing away a child, lascivious conduct with a minor and third-degree sexual abuse. This year's investigation in Urbandale did not include accusations of physical contact, officials said.

source: Article 'Convicted sex offender found dead in vehicle' by Tom Alex; www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007703130399; DesMoinesRegister; 13 March 2007