Child sex offender escapes from St. Louis County hospital and is considered dangerous

A convicted child sex offender who police said should be considered dangerous escaped from a St. Louis County, Missouri, hospital on foot early Thursday morning.

Tommy Wayne Boyd, 45, a prisoner at Potosi Correctional Facility, was last seen around 3:45 a.m. Thursday by personnel at Mercy Hospital South, the St. Louis County Police Department said in a Facebook post.

Officers from the Affton Southwest Precinct were alerted around 4:30 a.m. that he had fled the building.

Boyd was being guarded by two Missouri Department of Corrections officers when he escaped, a hospital spokesperson said in a statement.

"There was no physical confrontation, no one was hurt and video surveillance shows the escapee leaving the hospital," the statement said. "While there is no evidence he is still on the hospital campus, to ensure the safety of everyone, we are conducting a complete search of all our buildings."

A photo released by police showed Boyd walking down a hallway in the hospital wearing a black sweatshirt or jacket, shorts and orange slippers.

Police said he was "traveling in an unknown direction."

"He should be considered dangerous. It is unknown if he is armed," the department said. "Anyone seeing Boyd should immediately call 911."

Boyd is serving a 30-year sentence for statutory sodomy, according to police. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which maintains the state’s sex offender registry, said Boyd committed first-degree statutory sodomy in October 1996 when the victim was 11 and he was 18.

Boyd was transported to the hospital on Wednesday for treatment, police said.