France arrests longtime US fugitive wanted over child sex abuse
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Michael Wiseman was arrested by French authorities and charged with sexually assaulting his adopted son.
PHOTO: SCOTTSDALE POLICE DEPARTMENT
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- Michael Wiseman, 51, was arrested in France on Nov 1, after 14 years on the run from US authorities.
- Wiseman is charged with sexually assaulting his adopted son, and investigations continue to determine harm to his other child.
- He escaped US prosecution twice, fleeing to Spain in 2008 and violating probation in 2012, before being found in France.
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STRASBOURG, France - French authorities have arrested a fugitive charged with child sex abuse who spent nearly 14 years on the run after escaping US authorities twice, a source close to the case told AFP on Nov 14.
The source said French authorities arrested Michael Wiseman, 51, on Nov 1 and charged him with sexually assaulting his adopted son, confirming an earlier statement from US police in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was first arrested in 2008 for sexual exploitation of a minor.
“An investigation is under way in Strasbourg” city in eastern France, the prosecutor’s office told AFP, without providing further details. The source close to the case said authorities were working to determine if he had also harmed his other child, who is eight years old.
The French charges come on top of US arrest warrants issued after Wiseman skipped the country twice to escape prosecution, Scottsdale police said on Nov 7.
In 2008, he cut off an ankle bracelet and fled to Spain before he was found, extradited and sentenced after pleading guilty, only to escape again in 2012 while on probation.
He was traced to Vietnam, Poland, and ultimately France, where he was found living in Kilstett, north of Strasbourg, under a false identity.
During the investigations, US police searches of Wiseman’s email found evidence that he was sexually abusing his 10-year-old adopted child, which the FBI reported to French authorities. AFP
