GQEBERHA – A 56-year-old fugitive from the United States of America, Robert Lee Redd Junior, was arrested in Gqeberha yesterday, 27 May.

According to South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk, the suspect was arrested at his home in Kabega Park.

“The suspect, a USA citizen, is wanted by INTERPOL on charges of rape and sexual assault reported by the victim’s mother to the San Antonio Police Department in 2017,” said Van Wyk.

She said the suspect allegedly raped his daughter and shared explicit text messages with her over a period of time. The victim was reportedly 12 years old at the time.

Van Wyk said that after the investigation was completed in the United States, the suspect allegedly fled the country and was later traced to the Eastern Cape.

“INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) Pretoria traced the suspect and executed a Section 5(1)(b) warrant upon receipt of the USA’s extradition request with support from the Nelson Mandela Bay District Intervention Task Team, Crime Combating Unit, and Mount Road Crime Intelligence,” she said.

Earlier, SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said the arrest followed a two-year search conducted by the Nelson Mandela Bay Detective Task Team and Crime Intelligence.

INTERPOL members joined the operation, while the Nelson Mandela Bay Crime Combating Unit also assisted.

According to a report published by United States media outlet KSAT on 10 March 2020, the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force had been searching for a man wanted on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

The report stated that Robert Lee Redd Jr., who was 49 at the time, had allegedly been on the run since May 2019 after an indictment was filed in the Bexar County 144th District Court in Texas.

“The indictment alleged that Redd sexually assaulted a child through physical force and contact,” Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Bozeman was quoted as saying in the report.

“The child was under the age of 14-years-old.”

Van Wyk said the suspect is expected to appear in the Gqeberha Magistrate’s Court tomorrow, 29 May, where the United States government is expected to bring an extradition application before the Republic of South Africa.