Wanted american caught in Dumaguete

CEBU, Philippines – A wanted citizen of the United States of America was arrested yesterday in Dumaguete City for having an outstanding felony warrant in the State of Florida for sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation of a child less than 12 years old.

Operatives of the Bureau of Immigration from Manila and from the BID-Dumaguete district office, led by head agent Alvin Rebadulla, caught Thomas Edward Fenton, 74, from his temporary residence, a rented apartment at Morito Road in Barangay Taclobo, this city.

Fenton’s passports was revoked since last September 10, due to the charges against him in Florida. Then last September 28, 2014, Special Prosecutor Homer Arellano charged Fenton for being an undocumented alien, for posing a risk to public interest, and for being considered a fugitive.

US Embassy attaché Gregory Brenneman has informed the Bureau of Immigration in Manila, through Commissioner Siegfred Mison, that Fenton has an outstanding felony warrant of arrest and that his presence in the country poses risk to public interest.

In lieu of this development, a search was launched for the capture of the fugitive who was eventually found in Dumaguete.

NBI Special Investigator Nick Tagle who was tasked to locate the whereabouts of Fenton successfully arrested the American fugitive, in the presence of his Filipina wife who hails from Siquijor.

Tagle disclosed that Dumaguete maybe one of the best retirement places in the world, but for fugitives, Dumaguete is not good for them because the community is very cooperative in extending information about their presence, resulting in the arrest of other wanted Americans hiding in the city after committing crimes in the US

Fenton, in an interview, confirmed to reporters the charges against him for molesting a child, but he denied committing the crime. He said he was embroiled in a family feud back in Florida and that his accusers were members of the family he had a conflict with.

After his arrest Fenton was escorted by authorities back to Manila yesterday. Mison has ordered Fenton’s deportation to his country of origin, subject to the submission of the clearance from the NBI.