Reporter: FOR 12 YEARS TIMOTHY'S MUCH SHOT HAS APPEARED ON FLORIDA'S SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY BUT NOW THE STATE HAS TAKEN A NEW PHOTO HOLDING UP A $3 MILLION CHECK AFTER HE STRUCK IT RICH ON A FLORIDA LOTTERY SCRATCH OFF TICKET. Florida Lottery Timothy Poole Timothy Poole (Florida Lottery) 
 
 "We chose to not draw additional attention to this particular winner," said Shelly Gerteisen, communications manager for the Florida Lottery. Poole is driver and dispatcher for Triangle Cab, a Mount Dora taxi company owned by his mother, records show. In 2001, the Orange County Sheriff's Office arrested Poole on charges of sexual battery on a victim under 12, records show. Poole, then 28, denied the allegations to sheriff's detectives, saying he would never hurt the boys because he felt as if they were his own. As part of a plea bargain, Poole pleaded guilty to attempted sexual battery and was sentenced to the 13 months he had already served in jail. He was sentenced to five years in prison by Circuit Judge Alan S. Apte and was released from state custody in 2006.  At the Florida Lottery headquarters, Timothy Poole, 43, posed for a photo with an oversized check after claiming his $3 million Scratch-Off prize. This week, Poole claimed his winnings from the Florida Lottery in a one-time lump-sum payment of $2,219,807.90. Florida law does not allow the lottery to withhold payments from winners based on their criminal records, according to spokeswoman.
– Lottery officials in Florida pulled a photo of the latest jackpot winner from their website after learning that he is a convicted sex offender. Timothy Poole, 43, served time in prison after being accused of sexually battering a 9-year-old boy in 2001 and has been arrested more than 10 other times for offenses including grand theft and forgery, reports the Orlando Sentinel. He won $3 million on a Super Millions scratch-off ticket and took home a lump sum payment of $2,219,807 this week. "We chose to not draw additional attention to this particular winner" after learning of his past, a lottery spokeswoman says. Poole—who now works as a driver for a taxi firm his mother owns—served 13 months on a plea deal for the 2001 offense and was later sent back to jail for three years after failing to attend mandatory sex offender counseling sessions. He was required to register as a sexual predator but continues to maintain his innocence and has had no legal problems since his release from prison in 2006, reports WKMG, which notes that Florida doesn't allow the lottery to withhold payments from winners based on their criminal records. (In Alaska a few years ago, a convicted sex offender won a lottery that benefited sex-assault victims and suffered a severe beating in the street a few days later.)