BERRIEN COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A man extradited after hiding in Mexico will stand trial for alleged sex crimes he committed against a young Michigan girl.
53-year-old William Stanson was arrested on February 4th for child sexual abuse charges issued in 2015. The Michigan man was arrested while living in Mexico, where he had been in hiding since becoming the subject of a police investigation a few years ago.
Stanson was bound over to Berrien County Circuit Court on Thursday, February 26th on multiple charges including two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct on a child under 13, and two additional counts of having a first-degree criminal sexual conduct relationship.
A federal criminal complaint made in January, detailed how the suspect made a confession of having sex 300 times with an underaged girl. The complaint, which led to the warrant for his eventual arrest, placed the criminal sexual activity as taking place from when the girl was between the age of 6 and 17.
For years police detectives attempted to locate Stanson after he fled from Berrien County not long after making the confession, at the same time that he was awaiting sentencing for separate charges in Michigan.
MLive has reported that those charges include accosting a minor for immoral purposes, failing to register as a sex offender as well a count of failing to appear for sentencing.
Stanson was featured on the Discovery Network show “In Pursuit with John Walsh” during a January 29th broadcast.
Following the episodes airing, tips came flooding in regarding the mans whereabouts. According the federal complaint, Stanson’s neighbor in Baja California was the one who alerted police of his presence in the Mexican state.
FBI agents were soon able to corroborate the suspects residence and worked with Mexican law enforcement officials to arrest and extradite him back to the United States.
