France arrests longtime US fugitive wanted over child sex abuse

France arrests longtime US fugitive wanted over child sex abuse
French authorities have arrested Michael Wiseman, a fugitive charged with child sex abuse who spent nearly 14 years on the run after escaping US authorities twice. (X/@genjustlaw)
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Updated 41 sec ago

France arrests longtime US fugitive wanted over child sex abuse

France arrests longtime US fugitive wanted over child sex abuse
  • French authorities arrested Wiseman on November 1 and charged him with sexually assaulting his adopted son
  • The French charges come on top of US arrest warrants issued after Wiseman skipped the country twice

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 Friday.
The source said French authorities arrested Michael Wiseman, 51, on November 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 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.
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.
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.


Paris police shoot and wound man with knife at Montparnasse station

Paris police shoot and wound man with knife at Montparnasse station
Updated 8 sec ago

Paris police shoot and wound man with knife at Montparnasse station

Paris police shoot and wound man with knife at Montparnasse station
  • A police officer shot in the leg the 34-year-old man who then stabbed himself in the throat
  • A passer-by was hit in the foot by one of the shots fired by police, the prosecutor’s statement said

PARIS: French police shot and wounded a knife-wielding man in Montparnasse train station in central Paris on Friday, the city prosecutor’s office said.
A police officer shot in the leg the 34-year-old man who then stabbed himself in the throat, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement, adding: “He was quickly taken care of by emergency services.”
A passer-by was hit in the foot by one of the shots fired by police, the prosecutor’s statement said.
The man had waved a knife at officers who were waiting for him at Montparnasse as part of an investigation of domestic violence carried out by police in a southern suburb of Paris.
He received an 18-months suspended sentence in September on account of several alleged domestic violence offenses, the prosecutor’s office said.
A Reuters photographer who was at the station when the incident occurred said the incident had caused panic among commuters and weekend travelers, just a day after France marked the 10th anniversary of attacks by a jihadist group in Paris in which 130 people were killed.
“The memory of the attacks on November 13 (2015) is still there,” said one witness, Elvire Vaisse. “I thought to myself, ‘Here we go again.’ Suddenly I felt really stressed.”