An Arizona man who fled the United States years ago while on probation for sex crime convictions was arrested earlier this month in France, where he was charged with sexually assaulting a child, authorities said.
Michael Robert Wiseman, 51, was living in Kilstett in northeastern France when he arrested November 1. Investigators discovered Wiseman had travelled to Vietnam and Poland before settling in France.
Scottsdale police Sgt. Dustin Patrick told Phoenix television station 12News that Wiseman was captured after he tried applying for a pilot’s license in Spain using his real name. Patrick said investigators discovered that Wiseman had adopted two children in Vietnam and had obtained a legitimate Polish passport under an alias.
“His potential employer Googled his name and found that he was on Scottsdale’s most wanted list and called Spain authorities,” Patrick said.
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.
"An investigation is underway 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.
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FRANCE IN FOCUS © FRANCE 24
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The French charges come on top of US arrest warrants issued after Wiseman skipped the country twice to escape prosecution, Scottsdale police said on November 7. The Arizonan was facing charges stemming from child sexual abuse material found on his computer.
While his charges were still pending, Wiseman cut off his ankle monitoring device and left the country in late 2008. The fugitive was arrested in 2009 in Spain, brought back to Arizona and pleaded guilty in metro Phoenix to three counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child and one escape charge.
In an interview with a probation employee, Wiseman said he left the country the first time after growing tired of the hardship from his wife leaving him after his 2008 arrest and his financial difficulties, according to court records.
Wiseman, who spent more than two years in prison after his return from Spain, was sentenced in 2012 to lifetime probation and a one-year deferred jail sentence. The additional incarceration was later deleted by a judge in at least one of his two Arizona cases.
Then authorities say he skipped out of the United States for the second time after his 2012 sentencing.
The lawyer who last represented Wisemen in his criminal case no longer works as a public defender, and efforts to locate him through a bar directory and internet search weren’t successful.
Scottsdale police say Wiseman will be extradited to the United States after his French case is completed. Arizona prosecutors say there is no timeline for when the extradition will occur.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
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