LANSING, Kan. (AP) -- A convicted child sex offender who escaped from a northeastern Kansas prison three weeks ago has been captured in Kansas City, Kan.

State corrections officials say 59-year-old Gary Leslie Furthmyer was taken into custody at 2 p.m. Wednesday. He was positively identified at the Wyandotte County jail and returned to the Lansing Correctional Facility.

The Corrections Department credits the apprehension to one of a dozen tips made to a Crimestoppers hotline.

Furthmyer escaped around 3 a.m. April 18 from his minimum security job at the Lansing prison's steam plant. He was serving a six- to 25-year sentence out of Sedgwick County for indecent liberties with a child and aggravated failure to appear.

Officials had said last week there were possible sightings of Furthmyer at homeless shelters in Kansas City, Mo.