On the run since September 2009
Scranton, PA – Today, United States Marshal Martin J. Pane
announced that the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Fugitive Task Force
arrested Christopher Karl Scott - a 34-year old man formerly of Pleasant Mount,
Pennsylvania.
During 2008, the Pennsylvania State Police investigated
Scott for the alleged sexual assaults of two minor females in Mount Pleasant
Township. On October 17, 2008, Scott surrendered to authorities in Wayne
County, Pennsylvania. He appeared before Magisterial District Judge Ronald Edwards
who released Scott on unsecured bail.
In 2009, Scott appeared in the Wayne County Court of Common
Pleas to plead guilty to the charges. After learning that his guilty plea would
designate him as a sexually violent predator under the provisions of Megan’s
Law, Scott withdrew his plea and requested a trial. Scott was allowed to remain
free on unsecured bail pending the trial.
On September 21, 2009, Scott failed to appear for trial in
the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas. President Judge Raymond L. Hamill
issued a Bench Warrant for the arrest of Scott. On September 29, 2009, the
Pennsylvania State Police requested the assistance of the USMS Fugitive Task
Force in the Middle District of Pennsylvania to locate and arrest Scott.
Scranton-based Deputy U.S. Marshals pursued leads in Pennsylvania, surrounding
states, and as far away as Texas.
In early February 2014, Crime Watch PA – an on-line tip and
law enforcement information sharing service – received information that Scott
was living in a remote cabin near Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. U.S. Marshals in
the Middle District of Pennsylvania sent an investigative lead to their
counterparts in the Northern District of West Virginia. On February 6, Deputy
U.S. Marshals placed a cabin in Pendleton County under surveillance. After
several hours, Scott was positively identified as he entered the cabin. The
fugitive was arrested without incident. When taken into custody, he had no
identification on his person. However, personnel observed documents inside the
cabin containing the alias of Christopher Campbell. No other persons were found
in or around the cabin at the time of arrest. Scott was turned over to West
Virginia authorities and lodged in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, to await
extradition back to Pennsylvania.
United States Marshal Martin J. Pane stated, “The arrest of
this fugitive, charged with crimes against two young children, was a priority
to the Marshals Service. While he was on the run, there could be no justice for
the little girls. It is my sincere hope that, by taking this fugitive into
custody to face justice in the Wayne County Courts, some measure of comfort
will be realized.”
U.S. Marshals received assistance from the Pennsylvania
State Police and Lackawanna Sheriff’s Office. These agencies are participating
members of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force in the Middle District
of Pennsylvania. Additional assistance was provided in West Virginia by the
West Virginia State Police and the Pendleton County Sheriff’s Department.
The concept of all USMS-led fugitive task forces is to seek
out and arrest the nation’s most dangerous offenders.
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