‘Most Wanted’ fugitive arrested in Mexico
A man charged with 31 counts of child molestation in Riverside County was arrested in Mexico and turned over to the FBI at LAX Thursday afternoon, officials said in a statement.
According to Bill Lewis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office,
Marlon Iverzander Lopez, 51, was wanted on state charges in Riverside County for the molestation of multiple juvenile victims over the span of six years.
On September 28 , 2002, Lopez was charged with 22 counts of lewd acts with a child. He was arrested on March 12 , 2005; however, he didn’t show up for court after posting $500,000 bond.
After the initial charges, Lopez was charged with an additional nine counts from an alleged molestation case in July 2005 .
During the investigation, Lopez fled California to El Salvador, officials said.
Lopez ended up on America’s Most Wanted after he fled the country.
Although Lopez fled to El Salvador in 2005, investigators discovered he moved to Mexico City sometime in 2013. FBI officials said it took a collaborative effort to locate the fugitive.
Lopez was finally arrested on March 12, 2014, in Tultitlan, Mexico, a suburb of Mexico City.
He’ll be held in Riverside County on molestation charges.
Officials anticipate the U.S. government will drop the federal warrant for Lopez fleeing the country to avoid prosecution and that he will remain in custody while he awaits prosecution for the state charges of child molestation.
He’s going to be prosecuted by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
According to the FBI’s website, Lopez was born in El Salvador and speaks English, Spanish, German, French and Tagalog. During the search, officials said he practiced Voodoo, Santeria, and/or other forms of witchcraft.
