A convicted sex offender accused of failing to register in Montana missed a scheduled court hearing earlier this week.

Adam Wayne Thorp, 40, was scheduled to appear Monday in Lincoln County District Court for arraignment on the felony charge. Court records indicate he posted $10,000 bail on June 29. 

Thorp’s court-appointed attorney Daniel Wood wasn’t sure why Thorp didn’t show up and asked probation officer Vanessa Williamson if she knew anything.

She said Thorp had been checking in and she wasn’t sure why he didn’t appear for Monday’s hearing. Wood sought a two-week continuance and District Judge Matt Cuffe granted it, setting the next hearing for July 27.

Thorp, who is a transient, first came to the attention of local law enforcement June 28 when county deputy Ryan Terpsma was on patrol doing field training with deputy Chris Pape. Thorp called dispatch, saying his girlfriend started a fire and threatened to burn down their RV.

Both deputies were joined by deputy Joshua Brabo and they met Thorp at the green box trash site on Fisher River Road. Prior to the meeting, dispatch informed deputy Terpsma that Thorp’s sexual/violent offender registration was expired.

When the deputies and U.S. Border Patrol agent Henderson detained Thorp due to the expiration of his offender status, he told them his wife lit a fire in the RV. Thorp said he knew his offender registration was expired.

When they arrived at the campsite where the RV was parked, deputy Terpsma saw a broken window on the passenger side and a woman exited the vehicle. She identified herself as Thorp’s wife. She said he left the RV and returned twice and he tried to start a fight. She said she started a fire on a table in the RV because Thorp took the keys to the truck and RV. She also said they had been drinking.

When the deputy spoke to Thorp, he said he left the RV at about 11 a.m. and when he returned he found his wife drunk and belligerent. He said she tried to start the RV, but he took the keys so she wouldn’t drive drunk. He also said she pushed him repeatedly when he took the keys.

Thorp said she tried to burn the RV down before he left the campsite and went to his brother’s house. He also said it was unfair he was going to jail, but his wife was not. He then hit his head off the deputy’s patrol vehicle. He stopped after being confronted. While en route to the county jail, Thorp said he knew he was expired out of Wisconsin and California.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registry, Thorp has been on the registry since Sept. 12, 2005. He is on the registry for life following a conviction for the second-degree sexual assault of a child and having sex with a child age 16 or older in Racine County.