A twice-convicted sex offender who was supposed to be living in a Morgan County motel was arrested Friday afternoon in Mobile just a few blocks away from the home of a woman he assaulted five years ago, police said.

It was the second time that Leon Anthony Davis Jackson, 44, absconded from Morgan County, according to authorities.

Jackson has been charged with failing to register as a sex offender in Mobile County and will face similar charges in Morgan County for leaving without permission, said Officer Christopher Levy, a Mobile Police Department spokesman.

After being notified by Morgan County authorities that Jackson might be in the area, Mobile Police found Jackson about 6 p.m. in the 1500 block of Flicker Drive, Levy said.

Jackson has been convicted of four felonies, according to online court records, including a 2004 home-invasion in which he assaulted a 25-year-old woman.

According to the court record, he was initially charged with first-degree rape, but pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree burglary.

Although Jackson had two previous felony convictions, including another rape charge in 1993 that was also pleaded down to first-degree sex abuse, Circuit Judge Robert Smith sentenced him to five years in prison with 15 years suspended.

Jackson was released from prison in March, according to his sex-

offender registry.

Levy said it is not clear why, if he had taken off once before, Jackson was roaming free instead of in jail.