Man Wanted In Moorhead Sex Crime Arrested In Mexico 21 Years Later
MOORHEAD, Minn. (WCCO) -- After 21 years on the run, a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a Moorhead teenager was arrested in Mexico Wednesday.
Moorhead police say Mexican authorities and FBI agents arrested a 67-year-old man in Cancun for his alleged sexual relations with a 14-year-old Moorhead girl whom he met online in 2000.
WCCO-TV does not typically name suspects until they've been formally charged.
Moorhead detectives and FBI agents in Minneapolis found that the man was living in Cancun and arrested him outside his home on Wednesday afternoon.
"The FBI has two things on its side when working fugitives cases: persistence and a very long memory," FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Paul said.
Police say the man had communicated with the teenager via the internet for six months in early 2000. That following July, the man flew to Moorhead to meet the teenager and engaged in sexual activities with her at a local hotel, according to the release.
The man was arrested but failed to show up for his court hearing in Clay County, Minnesota after posting bail in September that year.
After the man fled, he was placed on the FBI's Crimes Against Children's unit's most wanted page.
Police say he will be flown back to Minnesota and is expected to be transferred to the custody of local authorities
