Most wanted alleged U.S. sex offender arrested at Dutch airport

[News_Editor]

Most wanted alleged U.S. sex offender arrested at Dutch airport

2011-02-23 06:43:17 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- An American who fled abroad in 2006 while facing charges of child sexual abuse and attempted kidnapping was arrested at an airport in the Netherlands on Monday, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Peter Belegrinos, 29, of New York City, is a former Psych Tech at Elmhurst Hospital who is accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl at a public park in Queens in August 2005. He was listed by the U.S. Justice Department as a most wanted sex offender after he jumped bail in January 2006.

Having an extensive family overseas, officials immediately believed Belegrinos had fled to another country in an attempt to escape the child sex abuse charges. An international arrest warrant was issued in March 2006.

"If the defendant thought that law enforcement authorities would forget about him after five years, he was sadly mistaken," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. "His alleged offenses are said to have occurred in a public area in broad daylight. Such allegations make the defendant a threat to children and a clear and present danger to society. His long overdue arrest also proves the old adage: you can run but you cannot hide."

Belegrinos was taken into custody at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the Netherlands' main airport, on Monday but few other details were immediately released. It was not known if Belegrinos had resided in the Netherlands since fleeing the United States.

According to court documents, Belegrinos approached three children, a boy and girl both aged nine and a 12-year-old girl, on August 8, 2005 at Astoria Park in Queens, New York. He allegedly asked them to play a game which he described as a "kissing game", after which the 9-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl ran away.

Belegrinos then allegedly told the 9-year-old girl to get into his car and that they could catch up with the other two children. She then ran toward the 9-year-old boy who was hiding behind bushes nearby and they watched as Belegrinos drove his car toward them, got out, and approached them.

According to prosecutors, Belegrinos then ran through the bushes and punched the 9-year-old girl in the face, knocking her to the ground before lifting up her skirt and sexually abusing her. He allegedly covered the girl's mouth with his hand while she attempted to scream and told her, "Can't you ever shut up?"

The 9-year-old boy who had witnessed Belegrinos grab the girl and knock her to the ground then started screaming and alerted a number of passersby to what the suspect was doing to the girl. He was shortly later arrested and arraigned the next day on charges of second-degree attempted kidnapping, first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child and bail was set at $50,000, which he posted.

On January 23, 2006, he failed to appear in court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. In March 2006, he was indicted on bail jumping charges, leading to an international arrest warrant and his eventual designation as a most wanted sex offender.

Belegrinos, who faces 15 years in prison if convicted on the attempted kidnapping and other charges and four years on the bail jumping charges, appeared before an examining judge in the Netherlands on Tuesday on the matter of extradition.

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