May 14, 2026
Provided Image/U.S. Marshals
Joseph Christopher Mazzoni, a Delaware County sex offender wanted for allegedly failing to register his address and other alleged sex crimes, was found hiding in this makeshift hut in Florida. He was arrested by U.S. Marshals on Wednesday morning.
A Delaware County man convicted twice for sex offenses was found in Florida living in a makeshift hut covered by a tarp and palm fronds.
Joseph Christopher Mazzoni, 46, was arrested in Naples on Wednesday morning by a U.S. Marshals Service task force, ending a search that lasted more than two months. His last registered Pennsylvania address had been in Chester.
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Mazzoni had been wanted by Pennsylvania State Police since March 9 for several alleged child pornography charges and for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender. He is a Tier 3 sex offender, which requires him to register his residency every three months for the rest of his life.
Pennsylvania's sex offender registry shows Mazzoni was convicted of possessing child pornography in March 2014 and of sexual abuse of children and child pornography in December 2015.
The U.S. Marshals believed Mazzoni was residing in Florida and receiving assistance to evade law enforcement. After executing a search warrant on the 2300 block of Crawford Avenue in Naples, U.S. Marshals found living in the woods behind a home near Alligator Alley, an 80-mile stretch of Interstate 75 that runs through the Everglades from Naples to Fort. Lauderdale.
Mazzoni was transported to Collier County jail in Naples to await extradition to Pennsylvania.
"The U.S. Marshals Service has zero tolerance for sexual predators preying on children," Eric Gartner, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. "As Mr. Mazzoni learned, going entirely off the grid in a different state offers no respite from the relentless pursuit of justice."
