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Nelson Sanderson was returned to the United States in Wednesday in the company of agents of the U.S. Marshals service. He faces two life sentences if convicted. (Handout)
A 75-year-old Florida man who had been on the run since a warrant for his arrest was issued in July 2012 on charges of child molestation was returned to Florida in the company of U.S. Marshals agents on Wednesday after being arrested in Granada, Nicaragua last week.
Nelson Sanderson of Lee County, Florida faces two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under the age of 12. A warrant for his arrest was issued on July 27th, 2012, but Sanderson fled to Costa Rica shortly after the allegations came to light, according to authorities.
At some point during his four years on the run, Sanderson moved from Costa Rica to Granada, Nicaragua, according to authorities.
According to documents that were filed in 2012, Sanderson was accused of performing “extremely repulsive acts on a child on one or more occasions between July 2010 and July 2012.”
After being returned to the United States in the company of U.S. Marshals agents, Sanderson was booked into the Miami Dade Correctional Facility with no bond.
Sanderson will face two life sentences if convicted, according to authorities in Florida.
“Over the last four years, members of the US Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force have worked relentlessly, in tandem with members of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s Fugitive Warrants Unit, to track Sanderson down. Detectives have been in frequent communication with the Department of Justice and law enforcement and government authorities in Nicaragua to arrange for Sanderson’s detainment,” Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers said in a press statement.
“Last week’s arrest of Nelson Sanderson in Nicaragua is an absolute testament that you can run from the law, but you can’t hide forever – even in a Third World country,” said Trish Routte, Crime Stoppers Coordinator. “Given the nature of the crimes Sanderson is accused of, detectives never set this case aside. Despite the time that’s passed, Mr. Sanderson has always been high up on law enforcement’s radar, and the US Marshals Service employed every means possible to ensure that they could extradite this accused molester from a foreign country. Now that he is securely back in the United States, both law enforcement and especially the victim and her family will await the justice system to move this case forward.”
