Fugitive sex offender nabbed in Mexico after case airs on TV show, Michigan cops say
A Michigan man who has been wanted for five years for child sex crimes was caught in Mexico this week thanks to an Investigation Discovery TV show, according to Michigan State Police.
The case of William Troy Stanson, of Bridgman, Michigan, was featured on ID’s “In Pursuit with John Walsh” last week and tips immediately began pouring in, according to a release from Michigan State Police. Authorities have been searching for Stanson since 2015, when he was charged with first-degree sexual assault of a minor and a separate case of accosting a minor, state police said.
Tips led police to locate and arrest Stanson in Baja California, which is in northwest Mexico, according to state police. He has been extradited back to the U.S. and will face unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, failure to appear for a sentencing and criminal sexual conduct charges, state police said.
“The arrest signifies the great cooperation between multiple law enforcement agencies in the United States and Mexico,” state police said in a release. “(It) was a culmination of the public’s help and numerous law enforcement agencies working together.”
Bridgman and Baja California are more than 1,750 miles apart.
Stanson, 53, has been on the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry as of June 2015, records show.
WWJ News reported Stanson’s 2015 conviction involved minors from a Halloween party.
“They were playing a game of Truth or Dare where it got way out of hand with Mr. Stanson making inappropriate comments and dares,” Bridgman Police Sgt. Tom LaVanway told WSJM News.
LaVanway said the girls together went to report “the inappropriateness involving Mr. Stanson,” according to WNDU-TV. Another victim came forward as Stanson awaited his sentencing, WWJ News reported.
Stanson first tried to flee into Canada in 2015, but the country did not allow him because he is a convicted sex offender, LaVanway added to WSJM.
Prior to the show airing last week, state police had not heard anything about Stanson’s whereabouts since 2015 when he allegedly sold his truck in Arizona, LaVanway told WNDU.