Friday, August 29, 2008

Fugitive Sex Offender Returns To U.S.A From Philippines


by Alex P. Vidal
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security in Washington D.C. has announced the arrest and return to the United States of a fugitive sex offender from Ohio who fled to the Philippines last year.
Robert Downen of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security Affairs released the report just recently that late last July 24, a U.S. State Department special agent coor-dinated the return from the Philippines of Timothy Leonard Lantz, an Ohio resident with three outstanding warrants (of arrest) for child pornography and other related charges.
The Ohio fugitive had taken refuge in the Philippines after fleeing the United States last year, Downen said.
Registered sex offender Lantz is reportedly wanted on multiple child porno-graphy charges by the FBI in Cincinnati, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Columbus, and the United States Marshals Service. Two of the charges Lantz faces are transportation of child pornography and advertising visual depictions.
Report said a search warrant of Lantz’s apartment in Columbus in January 2007 uncovered multiple computers, hard drives, and other media containing child pornography. He fled the country soon afterward, traveling first to Amsterdam and Spain before arriving in the Philippines.
A U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent stationed at the American Embassy in Manila worked with officials from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Philippine immigration and law enforcement agencies to facilitate Lantz’s capture and arranged for his return to the United States to face justice, Downen reported.
Lantz was arrested on June 20 at a residence in Kolambogan, Lanao Del Norte, Philippines, by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration and the Philippine National Police. He was escorted back to the United States by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Gregory B. Starr, director of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), stated, "It’s this type of worldwide law enforcement cooperation that gives Diplomatic Security unparalleled ability to return fugitives like Lantz. His return highlights the critical role DSS plays in bringing suspects and fugitives to justice, regardless of where they may hide."
Because the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the most widely represented law enforcement organization in the world, DS’s capability to track and capture fugitives who have fled U.S. jurisdiction to avoid prosecution is unmatched. In 2007, DSS assisted in the resolution of 113 international fugitive cases from over 30 different countries, it was reported.
The Bureau of Diplomatic Security is the U.S. Department of State’s law enforcement and security arm. The special agents, engineers, and security professionals of the Bureau are responsible for the security of 285 U.S. diplomatic missions around the world. In the United States, Diplomatic Security personnel protect the U.S. Secretary of State and high-ranking foreign digni-taries and officials visiting the United States, investigate passport and visa fraud, and conduct personnel security investigations. /MP

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