Ukrainian law enforcement has arrested a US fugitive on the run from child sex crime charges since 1992.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Wednesday that the man, aged 66, has been living in the Kyiv region using a false identity claiming to be a Mexican citizen.
The man had reportedly been on the run since 1992 after being accused of committing sex crimes against four children aged 4 to 9 between 1984 and 1991 while working as a kindergarten director in Pima County, Arizona. He fled the US before the Arizona Supreme Court issued the sentence.
The man’s true identity remains unconfirmed, and it’s unclear how long he has been living in Ukraine or what his activities here have been.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said the arrest was made thanks to “the use of digital technologies, including the analysis of data from open sources,” where they were able to locate the man living in a private house in the Kyiv region.
“With the coordination of prosecutors and in close cooperation with the Cyber Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, a 66-year-old US citizen, who had been on the international wanted list since 1992, was detained in the Kyiv region,” it said in a statement.
The man is currently being detained and his extradition to the US, where he faces 15 criminal charges, is being resolved.