Whitney M. Woodworth

Statesman Journal

A convicted sex offender, who has made Portland headlines in the past for his unusual name — he legally changed it to Avril Lavigne in 2014 — and following and photographing young women with his phone, was arrested in Salem on Sunday.

A resident near Willamette University spotted Lavigne sitting on the resident's front porch on Saturday. The resident said Lavigne, 31, claimed to know his neighbors, two young women who share his front porch. He also allegedly offered the resident a "tab" to get high.

After his neighbors said they didn't know the man on the porch, the resident ordered Lavigne to leave. He reviewed his surveillance footage and said he watched as Lavigne took off his shoes, got high, charged his cell phone and stashed a bag of writings and drawings in his porch cabinet.

According to court records, Lavigne is a transient from the Portland area.

The man's security system alerted him when Lavigne returned to the porch the next day.

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Lavigne was booked into Marion County jail on trespassing charges and later released.

Lavigne previously went by the name Romany Mesina. He changed it to match the name of the Canadian singer of "Sk8er Boi" and "Complicated."

He was convicted of attempted rape of a minor in 2009 and ordered to register as a sex offender. Since then, he has been arrested multiple times in Multnomah County on charges of theft, reckless burning, resisting arrest, criminal trespassing and failing to register as a sex offender.

In May, a Portland mother contacted police after she came home to find Lavigne sitting on her front porch while her 16-year-old daughter was home alone, according to a report by KATU. Portland police said they suspected Lavigne was taking photos of young women and girls and posting them online.

He was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender in July 2016. A Multnomah County judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail, two years probation and ordered him to not take any photographs of minors.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth

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