By Dana Treen, Jacksonville Times-Union
Thursday, November 29, 2007

ST. AUGUSTINE - Former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle was jailed again Tuesday in St. Johns County after his second arrest this month on charges of failing to properly register as a sex offender.

He got out of jail the first time Nov. 20 on $10,000 bail following his arrest the previous day, but still did not register a permanent address with authorities then.

"We had talked to this man several times," Sgt. Chuck Mulligan of the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday. "We are not trying to vilify this man, but at the same time he is not in compliance."

Pyle, 59, must register at a permanent address in his current state of residency or be subject to arrest, Mulligan said.

"We could arrest him every 48 hours," Mulligan said. "I don't know if we want to go there."

Pyle remained in jail Wednesday on the new arrest in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to jail records. He was designated a sex offender in 1993 after he pleaded guilty to molesting two Jacksonville Beach girls.

He has been living in North Carolina, where he also is not registered, though about five years ago he told Florida authorities he was moving there, Mulligan said.

"For some five years, he was not in the system and we are not going to allow that to continue," Mulligan said.

When Pyle applied in October to renew a Florida driver's license using a Crescent Beach address, that's when authorities learned he was not registered in either state. A detective went to the address to find him but learned he had not lived at the address for four or five years.

The current renter of the house on Charles Street told the Times-Union he and his wife have lived there about a year and do not know Pyle. He said detectives asked for a sworn affidavit describing how long they have lived in the house.

Pyle was arrested Tuesday near the other end of the county at a house on the outskirts of the Nocatee development. Wednesday, a white Ford truck with a North Carolina vanity tag reading DRUMYODA sat under the carport. A tag holder had the words Artimus Venomus embossed in its frame.

No one was at the house and a message left on a phone voice mail for Pyle was not returned Wednesday.

Detectives had been talking with Pyle at a residence in North Carolina for several weeks and learned he was not registered there. Mulligan said Pyle, whose real name is Thomas Delmer Pyle, has a home and family in Asheville, N.C., but has told authorities he wants to register at an address in Florida.

About the time detectives sought the initial warrant for Pyle's arrest, the musician came from North Carolina to talk with authorities and was arrested for probable cause. When the warrant was issued later, it was used to arrest Pyle the second time because he still had not registered, Mulligan said.

Pyle pleaded guilty in 1993 to charges of attempted capital sexual battery by an adult on a victim younger than 12 and principal to lewd and lascivious on a child younger than 16. The charges involved two Jacksonville Beach sisters, 4 and 8 years old. He was sentenced to eight years of probation as well as getting the sex offender designation.

Associated Press
11:49 PM EST, November 20, 2007

ST. AUGUSTINE - Artimus Pyle, a former drummer for legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, was in jail Tuesday [November 20] on charges he failed to properly register as a sex offender, St. Johns County authorities said.

The 59-year-old, whose real name is Thomas Delmer Pyle, posted a $10,000 bail Tuesday evening. The jail had no information on whether he was represented by a lawyer.

Pyle pleaded guilty in 1993 in Duval County on charges of attempted capital sexual battery by an adult on a victim younger than 12 and principal to lewd and lascivious on a child younger than 16. He was sentenced to eight years of probation and designated as a sex offender.

He was arrested in 1992 after two girls 4- and 8-year-old sisters told investigators Pyle had sex with them.

Pyle renewed his driver's license last month and listed a St. Johns County address, authorities said. Because he is required to register as a sex offender in Florida, the records were automatically forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement sex offender database.

Detectives attempted to verify Pyle's address and discovered he had not lived there for many years. It also was determined Pyle had not registered since 2001.

Authorities found Pyle had moved to Asheville, N.C. North Carolina authorities said Pyle told them that he lived in Florida.

Pyle told The Florida Times Union that when he renewed his license in Florida, he gave the address of a rental home in Crescent Beach. He said he hasn't lived there for about five years but had plans to move back.

He was told to register as a sex offender in his current state of residency, but he has since failed to change his address and register in person as required by Florida law, the sheriff's office said.

"Of course I'm registered in the state of Florida where the incident happened," Pyle told the newspaper. "I just think they the police got it wrong."

Pyle was arrested Monday when he came to the sheriff's office to speak with detectives.

According to the Lynyrd Skynyrd's Web site, Pyle joined the band in 1975 and left in 1992.