Alaska State Troopers received a call from a 13-year-old Noorvik girl during the early morning hours of Tuesday, February 19th.

The 13-year-old girl reported at 5:45 am that she had been touched inappropriately by a 38-year-old man also of Noorvik.

The Alaska State Trooper investigation into the incident found that 38-year-old Noorvik resident Howard J Ferreira had offensively touched the young girl and placed her in fear according to the AST dispatch.

Further investigation would find that Ferreira was also out of compliance as a sex offender and that a prior warrant had been issued for failure to appear for original charges of failure to register as a sex offender; with no bail and six months to serve.

Ferreira was arrested and transported to the Kotzebue Regional Jail Facility where he is being held awaiting arraignment.

Noorvik is located on the right bank of the Nazuruk Channel of the Kobuk River, 33 miles northwest of Selawik and 45 miles east of Kotzebue. The community has an approximate population of 643.