Post date: Apr 23, 2013 10:21:19 AM
Nicaraguan authorities announce that they've captured American fugitive Eric Justin Toth, who is among FBI's Ten Most Wanted for allegedly possessing child pornography
MANAGUA, NICARAGUA (APRIL 22, 2013) (REUTERS) - Nicaraguan police said on Monday (April 22) they had arrested a U.S. man on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list suspected of child pornography offences, and handed him over to U.S. officials for extradition.
The suspect, former Washington schoolteacher Eric Justin Toth, was arrested on Saturday in Esteli, a city some 150 km (90 miles) north of Managua, said police chiefAminta Granera."I want to inform the Nicaraguan people that Eric Justin Toth, one of the ten most wanted fugitives by the FBI, was captured last Saturday (April 20) here inNicaragua," she said.
Toth was added to the Most Wanted list last year following the death of Osama Bin Laden.
"In April 2012, this person substituted Osama Bin Laden in the FBI's list of the ten most wanted," added Granera.
Toth, a former school teacher, is alleged to have had a school camera in his possession in June 2008 that had pornographic images on it, the FBI said on its website. He is also alleged to have produced child pornography in Maryland, authorities reported.
Granera said Toth had been caught with a fake U.S. passport, a fake driving license, and fake bank and credit cards after re-entering the Central American country.
"This person arrived in Nicaragua with this fake passport for the first time on October 24 last year, left on January 27, 2013 and returned on February 12, 2013 to be captured last Saturday (April 20). We have been in constant contact with FBI agents and embassy officials to whom we will hand over (the suspect) for deportation on a special plane to arrive at Augusto Cesar Sandino Airport. Toth is in our country with false identification and is here illegally and so will be deported immediately. He will be handed over to FBI agents who will move him in the coming hours to the United States to face charges and the (judicial) process," she said.
The 31-year-old Toth taught at the National Cathedral's exclusive Beauvoir school in Washington, D.C. and had also worked as a camp counsellor. He had been on the run since the District of Columbia and Maryland issued arrest warrants in 2008.