Chapman Still At Large
Authorities hope new photograph will help them nab fugitive

Authorities recently released a more current photo of fugitive Joe Chapman, who continues to elude a manhunt.

Police have been tightlipped about their investigation, which was at one time centered in Cameron, Potter and McKean counties.

Initially imprisoned for violating probation, Chapman walked away from the grounds of the McKean County Prison while on work detail July 30.

A week later, Emporium Borough Police filed charges against him, based on allegations that he sexually assaulted a child in the borough between November 2006 and April of this year.

State police in Emporium said last week that they are investigating allegations of additional sexual offenses that may have been committed by Chapman. These would have occurred before he was jailed in Smethport earlier this year for violating terms of his probation, stemming from a guilty plea to statutory sexual assault in 2002.

Chapman, 24, is five-footnine and has blue eyes. At the time of his escape he had blond hair, was clean shaven and weighed about 180 pounds.