Police Department

Worldwide effort brings wanted fugitive back to Spokane

Ofc. Teresa Fuller, 509.209.7188

Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 11 a.m.

A local man wanted on felony charges was extradited back to Spokane from the Republic of Georgia on July 15. The FBI Legal Attach´ in Tbilisi partnered with the MOIA, the Georgian Ministry of Justice (MOJ), and INTERPOL to bring about the arrest of Charles Arthur Fletcher, 60. He was taken into custody without incident after being located in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

The Spokane Police Department investigated a number of crimes Fletcher is alleged to have committed in Spokane and obtained a warrant for him in June of 2012. The warrant included one count of First Degree Child Molestation and one count of Second Degree Child Molestation. On July 20, 2012, Fletcher was charged federally for an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. Investigators in Spokane and the Republic of Georgia located Fletcher living in Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia.

Spokane Police and the FBI were able to then seek extradition of Fletcher back to the US. He arrived back in Spokane yesterday afternoon escorted by an FBI agent and a Spokane Police Detective. All this was done at no cost to SPD.

The cooperation and collaborative efforts of City, State, and Federal governmental agencies has allowed the Prosecutor’s Office to move forward with the prosecution of this case. Spokane County Prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald said, “The Spokane County Prosecutor’s office would not have the opportunity to pursue the prosecution of this case without the collaborative effort of all of the agencies involved in this matter.” The defendant will for the first time appear in Spokane County Superior Court on July 17, 2013.

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