Police in Portland, Oregon arrested a convicted rapist who legally changed his name to Avril Lavigne.
According to The Oregonian, police issued a warrant for the 30-year-old man, who was born as Romany Yves Mesina, on suspicion Lavigne had been photographing young women and teen girls and sharing the images on social media.
Lavigne was also wanted for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender following a 2009 conviction of second-degree rape, the newspaper reported.
Court documents obtained by KATU-TV, show the man legally changed his name to that of Canadian singer Avril Lavigne in 2014.
On Tuesday, Lavigne told an Oregon court that he had registered as a sex offender while in jail in January. The man pleaded not guilty, according to KATU-TV.
“I’m already properly registered. I filled out the papers in January, in jail,” the news station quoted Lavigne as saying.
A police spokesperson told KATU-TV that Lavigne did not include his proper address when he registered as a sex offender. Sex offenders are required to register every two years and include a current address, the spokesperson said.
“I’ve already filled out the sex offender registration in January, in jail, and I got released. I got brought back because they thought I failed to register and then they found out I did register and they let me out again,” Lavigne told the court.
The man is due back in court next week.