He adopted two Vietnamese children under a false name: American sex offender arrested in France after 14 years
One of the US's most wanted sex offenders has been arrested in France after 14 years. A few years ago, he was able to adopt two children from Vietnam under his assumed name. Now, he is also facing charges in France for the rape of minors.
"A sexual predator with an icy stare," is how Arizona media describes him. The United States has already officially requested the extradition of Michael Wiseman, a man in his forties who has multiple convictions for child sexual abuse.
Wiseman was arrested on November 1st in the town of Kilstett, in the French Alsace region, but the news only just broke. He will now face decades behind bars in the US. When he will be deported is not yet certain. As soon as possible, according to the US authorities.
Wiseman was first arrested in Arizona in February 2008 on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to a spokesperson for the Scottsdale Police Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU). He was suspected at the time of raping minors under the age of 15. In November of that year, while under judicial supervision, he cut off his ankle monitor and fled the US. His name then appeared on Interpol's Most Wanted list for the first time.
A year later, he surfaced in Spain, where he was arrested in 2009. He tried to obtain a pilot's license under his real name, but the police checked his identity and saw that he was wanted.
Detectives discovered that he had traveled several times to Vietnam and Poland before settling in France, specifically in Alsace, under his alias Robert Danilewski
He was extradited to the US, where he pleaded guilty to escape and sexual exploitation of a minor, according to police. In 2012, he was sentenced in absentia to years in prison. He was on parole at the time and sent his cat to the court. He himself had fled to avoid his sentence.
Where he went is unclear. What is certain is that a few years later he managed to obtain a Polish passport under his assumed name, Robert Danilewski. It was under this assumed name that he also managed to adopt two children from Vietnam.
Detectives discovered that he had traveled several times to Vietnam and Poland before settling in France, specifically in Alsace, under his alias Robert Danilewski.
Also French research
In September, U.S. authorities were on his trail, and the Scottsdale Police Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU), in collaboration with the Maricopa County District Attorney's Office, filed a preliminary arrest warrant with the Department of Justice's Bureau of International Affairs for Wiseman's arrest. The FBI was then also called in. He was shadowed for a short time before being arrested on All Saints' Day.
'Piwi' is also on the Most Wanted list: the drug lord who violated the three rules of the criminal environment
In addition to the arrest warrant in connection with the Scottsdale case, Wiseman was also charged by French police with rape and sexual assault of a child. Detectives accessed his email address and found videos showing him sexually abusing a child, a police spokesperson said.
He now faces years behind bars.