ICE arrests Canadian fugitive wanted for 1991 child sexual assault after three decades in California
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement captured Charles Peter Billone in Santa Cruz, ending a 30-year hunt for a man wanted in Canada for child sexual assault.
Charles Peter Billone, 64, was apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Santa Cruz, California, after evading Canadian law enforcement since 1991. He had originally been arrested that year on two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference involving a child, but disappeared after being released on a promise to appear in court. Over the years, investigators, including Hamilton Police Det. Paul Henderson, thought he had changed his identity and possibly hidden in Canada, with family connections in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Hamilton.
The breakthrough came when ICE located him in California, where he also held prior convictions for stolen property, assault and drug offenses. Billone is currently held in ICE custody as authorities move to deport him. His capture marks the end of a long-running manhunt that had left Canadian officials uncertain of his whereabouts.
Why it matters
The arrest ends a decades-long international manhunt for a suspect in a serious child sexual-assault case.
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