SCHENECTADY – The search for a Schenectady man on the run from child sexual abuse charges since 2018 continues, as the national Investigation Discovery show “In Pursuit With John Walsh” featured the case in a segment this past week.
Fugitive Rex Byrnes, who was a resident of Schenectady and native of Canajoharie, has been on the run since 2018. He faces a charge of predatory sexual assault against a child, according to the show.
If convicted of that charge, Byrnes would face a potential sentence on par with murder, 25 years to life.
The segment aired this past week on Investigation Discovery and is available on Discovery+. (Season 4, Episode 8)
It focuses on the Byrnes case, including interviews with Schenectady detectives, as well as the woman to whom the girl disclosed the abuse, and the girl herself. The show’s Callahan Walsh interviewed the girl, while shielding her voice and image, and giving her a different name. Byrnes is identified in the show as the girl’s father.
The girl relayed to police how the abuse went on nearly every week for almost two years, from age 9 to 11.
“Sometimes now I’ll have very, very vivid nightmares and it will be some very specific things that he did to me,” the girl told Callahan Walsh of the abuse’s continuing impact on her. “When it happens, it’s very scary. It’s like I’m reliving it.”
After she disclosed, Byrnes soon fled.
At the time he fled, Byrnes was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing around 150 pounds. He had long, brown hair. He had a lazy eye and a large tattoo of two gargoyles on his back, John Walsh said on the show.
In addition to his connections to Schenectady and Canajoharie, Byrnes has connections to Bradenton, Fla., and may be there, possibly earning money refinishing floors, John Walsh said.
“Now remember, Rex Byrnes is believed to be a serial predator,” John Walsh said in closing out the segment. “So if you think you’ve seen this creep, don’t approach him. Pick up the phone, please. Call me, text me. And I guarantee you can remain anonymous.”
The search by the Schenectady Police Department and the U.S. Marshals remained ongoing and active Friday, a city police spokesman said.
The show offered the phone and text number 1-833-378-7783 (3-PURSUE) or InPursuitTips.com. Schenectady police also offer their tips line at 518-788-6566.
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