Michael Wiseman, an American charged with child abuse, had lived for a year in Kilstett, a village located near Strasbourg, under a false name. Also accused of sexually abusing minors in France, he was arrested on Saturday November 1 by French police after 13 years on the run.
This is the end of a 13-year long dispute between several countries and three continents. Michael Wiseman, an American citizen who was convicted in the United States of child abuse and then fled abroad, was arrested on Saturday, November 1 at his home in Kilstett (Bas-Rhin), police in Scottsdale, Arizona, announced on Facebook, information first discovered by Paris Match. He is one of the most wanted criminals in the southwestern states of the US. Contacted by France 3 Alsace, the Strasbourg public prosecutor, Clarisse Taron, confirmed that investigation procedures were being carried out into the case.
“His criminal activity and repeated attempts to evade arrest spanned nearly two decades in several countries, and have now come to an end”welcomed American police officers in a press release posted on social networks. The man, aged 51 according to AFP, had been wanted since 2012 after absconding while on parole. He was first arrested in 2008 on several counts of sexual exploitation of minors.
Michael Wiseman is suspected of committing new acts of sexual abuse of a child under 15, likely occurring in France, against a child he adopted, according to a Scottsdale police press release. Authorities learned of this after gaining access to documents and information contained in Wiseman’s “personal account” in recent weeks. It was these new facts that allowed French authorities to try Wiseman for “rape and sexual abuse of a child under 15 years of age” and arrest him.
He is currently detained in France for crimes committed on French soil, awaiting extradition to the United States. According to the press release, he lived in a village located a few kilometers from Strasbourg under a false identity: Robert Danilewski.
Just below her name she introduced herself to the parents of pupils at Louise Weiss primary school in Kilstett: “For us, it was Robertemphasized Matthieu Weiss, whose son crosses paths with adopted son Michael Wiseman in CM2. We were all amazed, because he was a man who seemed full of good intentions, very kind. This is crazy. That he could get close to our children…Who’s to tell us that he didn’t commit other abuses against children in Kilstett?“
Arriving in Kilstett about a year ago, Michael Wiseman has “done a lot” to integrate into the village’s small, dynamic community of seniors, according to Matthieu Weiss. “The other parents and I threw parties at school, and he was always there with his sons. I remember one time when my son was playing with him at the local park. There were even those who sent their children to a place that we called Robert, because we didn’t suspect anything and the children who initially only spoke English were very good.“
According to him, Michael Wiseman even started his own mushroom cultivation company in Kilstett. After a quick search, we found the Deux Petits Champis site, run by “Robert” (precisely the first name Michael Wiseman has used since his arrival in France) and “Tanh”, who is presented as his wife. We tried calling the number listed on the site to confirm it was indeed Michael Wiseman, but the number referred directly to voicemail.
However, the site’s presentation appears to corroborate geographic elements publicized by Scottsdale police regarding Wiseman’s route after his escape. “Nothing in our careers predetermined our fate for this: I was a private jet pilot in Europe, and my wife worked as a check-in agent for Delta Airlines in Vietnam. My work has taken me around the world, all the way to Vietnam, where I met him.“
According to our information, the two children adopted and educated at Kilstett are from Vietnam. And contrary to what the site’s presentation implies – if it’s true to the enterprise Wiseman created – it wasn’t his work that took him around the world, but the tracking of American authorities.
According to a Scottsdale police release, Wiseman was first arrested in February 2008 in the United States on multiple charges of sexual exploitation of minors. In November, he removed his electronic bracelet and left the United States. He was arrested in 2009 in Spain, then extradited to the United States. He was re-convicted in 2012, but again escaped while on parole. This is where he went to Vietnam, Poland, before ending up in France.
