74-year-old registered sex offender sentenced to life for Denton home invasion
DENTON, Texas - A registered sex offender has been sentenced to life in prison after two convictions related to a Denton home invasion.
In Nov. 2022, a woman reported a man had broken into her Denton home, then physically assaulted and restrained her. Denton police say detectives quickly recognized the man as then-72-year-old Paul Merritt after reviewing surveillance video of the suspect.
Detectives found Merritt, who confessed to the assault, burglary, and knowingly violating his sex offender registration requirements. He was then arrested.
The victim was restrained for about two hours, threatened and cut with a knife during a struggle with Merritt. After he left with her credit card and other stolen items, she was able to free herself and call 911.
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Registered sex offender arrested for home invasion in Denton
Police arrested a registered sex offender accused of a home invasion in Denton Friday morning.
According to police, Merritt said he saw the victim about two months prior to the home invasion at a store, then followed her home and watched her at her home multiple times. He reportedly told investigators he tried to get into her home previously, as well as confessed to the home invasion and assault.
Detectives learned Merritt was living somewhere other than his reported address, which is against his sex offender registration requirements.
This week, Merritt was convicted of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit another felony. For that conviction, he received a sentence of life in prison. He was also convicted for failure to comply as a sex offender. He was required to register for life, and failed to do so. He was sentenced to 20 years for that conviction.