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U.S. Fugitive Michael Wiseman Arrested in France Is Placed Under Formal Investigation for Rape

Digital videos recovered from his email provide key evidence for French prosecutors, with a U.S. extradition request moving forward.

Overview

  • He was detained on November 1 in Kilstett, near Strasbourg, where he lived under a false identity after obtaining a Polish passport and using the name Robert Danilewski.
  • French authorities have opened a judicial inquiry over the alleged rape of his 10-year-old adopted son, and investigators are examining possible abuse of his other child, aged eight.
  • U.S. investigators say they accessed his email and found videos that triggered the French charges, following coordination with Scottsdale police, the FBI and the Department of Justice.
  • An extradition procedure to return him to the United States is underway, after the DOJ issued a warrant transmitted to French authorities in September.
  • Wiseman previously escaped U.S. supervision twice after a 2008 arrest for sexual exploitation of a minor, was extradited from Spain in 2009, convicted in 2012, and later fled abroad before settling in France, where neighbors knew his family from local schools and a small mushroom business.