By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-12 18:02:37 | Updated at 2026-08-12 22:48:29
4 hours ago
A Canadian fugitive accused of sexually assaulting a child more than three decades ago has been found hiding out in California.
Charles Peter Billone, 64, was arrested in Santa Cruz after allegedly spending years evading Canadian authorities, according to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office in San Francisco.
Billone had been wanted since 1991 in connection with allegations that he sexually assaulted a child in Canada.
He was originally arrested that year on two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference, according to the CBC. But after being released on a promise to appear in court, Billone allegedly failed to show up and vanished.
For years, authorities struggled to track him down.
“Charles Billone no longer exists,” Hamilton Police Det. Paul Henderson told the outlet in 2014, explaining that investigators believed Billone had changed his identity and could no longer be found through traditional methods.
Police had previously suspected Billone was hiding somewhere in Canada and believed he had family connections in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Hamilton.
Instead, the fugitive was eventually located in Santa Cruz, California.
ICE officials said Billone also has prior convictions for stolen property, assault and drug offenses.
He is currently being held in ICE custody while authorities pursue his removal from the US.
Billone’s capture marks a dramatic end to a decades-long manhunt that once left Canadian investigators wondering whether they would ever find him.
Back in 2014, Henderson said police were renewing efforts to publicize the case in hopes that someone would recognize Billone or provide information that could lead investigators to him.
“We know he’s still out there somewhere,” Henderson said at the time.
