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Police: Sex Offender Found Lounging On Couch, Watching TV In Pitt Dormitory

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police arrested a convicted sex offender who got into a dormitory on the University of Pittsburgh campus, kicked off his shoes and was found lounging on a couch, watching television.

Pitt campus police were called to Forbes Hall Pavilion, a freshmen engineering dorm, around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. The building is located on Forbes Avenue in Oakland.

According to the criminal complaint, 45-year-old William Burkett was found lying on a couch in the lobby area. He had his shoes off and was watching TV.

"It's a little weird, but not a lot of people come down there on a regular basis," said Mason Kline, a Pitt freshman. "The sofa is next to the printer, so no one goes down there unless they have something to print, not a high traffic area."

forbes-hall-couch
(Photo Credit: KDKA)

University of Pittsburgh officials issued a statement on the incident. It reads in part:

"This area is outside of the secured entry to the student living area. Our police responded and identified this individual as a person who had been the subject of property warnings in the past week."

Burkett told police he was homeless and didn't have a place to stay, the criminal complaint says.

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While trying to find a place for Burkett to go, police say they discovered he is a sex offender who had just gotten out of jail last month and failed to register under Megan's Law.

Police arrested Burkett, who is now back in the Allegheny County Jail, He's facing several charges including, failure to register as a sex offender and criminal trespassing.

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