'OPRAH' VIEWERS NAB SEX OFFENDERS.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Two friends who identified a convicted sex offender profiled on ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' received $50,000 checks for their part in capturing the fugitive from Indiana.

The arrest of William C. Davis, 33, came just days after Winfrey announced a campaign to track down sex offenders. Another fugitive who was wanted in Ohio also has been arrested since the broadcast, officials said.

Karie Miller of Fargo, N.D., and Jeanne Rosenthal of Moorhead, Minn., held hands Tuesday while walking onto the set of ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to a standing ovation by the audience.

Miller tipped off FBI agents last week, reporting that Davis lived above her family in a north Fargo apartment. Davis was arrested in Fargo on Thursday, two days after Winfrey broadcast his face and offered $100,000 for information leading to his capture.

``This is why I say you were so courageous, because you know what courage is,'' Winfrey told the women. ``It's being scared but doing it anyway.''

Rosenthal also saw Winfrey's Oct. 4 show on fugitives accused of preying on children when she recognized one fugitive as Miller's neighbor, whom the women knew as Mark. Rosenthal called Miller a day later, and the following day Miller used her sister's computer to look up Davis' profile.

``And the next day when I saw his picture, it scared me so bad,'' Miller told ABC's ``Good Morning America'' on Wednesday. ``I knew without a shadow of a doubt it was him, but at the same time was in such disbelief.''

Miller then called the FBI, and a few hours later agents arrested Davis.

Authorities wanted Davis of Wadesville, Ind., on felony charges of molesting three Indiana boys and failing to register as a sex offender.

Davis, who was convicted of child molestation in 1992, used an Indiana birth certificate and driver's license to obtain a North Dakota license in his brother's name.

Miller told ABC that Davis' first call from jail was to her.

``He called and said, `I can't believe you guys helped them bring me down. I thought we were friends,' '' Miller said. ``I didn't even know the man's real name.''

Another accused sex offender, Niles Scott, was arrested in Belize after a woman recognized him on ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and contacted local authorities, according to an FBI statement posted on Winfrey's Web site.

Scott, 50, was wanted in the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, and he has been returned to Cleveland to face charges, the FBI said.

``The FBI is very thankful to ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and the general public for helping us catch this dangerous fugitive,'' said Cleveland FBI agent Scott Wilson.

STUNT AWARDS: The motion picture academy still is not willing to give this crew its due with an Oscar, but Hollywood stunt players are turning the spotlight on themselves anyway for the Taurus World Stunt Awards, airing at 8 tonight on E! Dwayne ``The Rock'' Johnson hosts and Quentin Tarantino will get the action movie director of the year honor for his ``Kill Bill'' series. The rest of the night will be devoted to recognizing the men and women who laid it on the line - and occasionally left the set on stretchers or crutches - for the most demanding scenes in films like ``Ladder 49,'' ``The Aviator,'' ``Troy'' and ``The Bourne Supremacy.'' Of course, the action-packed show includes plenty of movie footage and its own specially created stunts.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Friends Jeanne Rosenthal, left, and Karie Miller, right, pose with Oprah Winfrey, who presented each with $50,000 for helping capture a convicted sex offender.