Guest MonkeySee Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 HOUSTON -- An accused sexual predator from Harris County led a secret life while avoiding capture for three years. Darren Castleberry, 40, was arrested in Thailand earlier this month. He's now in a California jail and is expected to be brought back to Houston sometime this week. Fox 26 received a rare look at parts of the case file the U.S. Marshal's Office has collected in its investigation. Deputy U.S. Marshal Cameron Welch says Castleberry is an experienced traveler, fluent in Russian, and savvy enough to hide his computer's IP address to avoid being found. Welch showed us a personal photo album that belonged to Castleberry and his new wife. In the pictures, Castleberry is seen standing in front of airplanes, eating at restaurants, and posing in the middle of exotic locales. "This arrest was probably one of the biggest investigations that the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force has conducted," said Welch. Castleberry is accused of repeatedly raping four young girls between 1984 and 2005 at homes in the Spring area. According to probable cause affidavits, Castleberry got the girls "intoxicated with alcohol" before sexually assaulting them. After Castleberry left to work for the Department of Defense in Kuwait, his ex-wife found a lockbox left behind with videotapes of the sex acts. "Fugitives try to seek refuge in third world countries that they think have no connections to the United States. They think they're going to be able to go undetected for long periods of time. That's where they trip up," said Welch. Marshals sent leads to investigators in seven countries where Castleberry had either been seen or was thought to be hiding. One email in the case file reads, "I saw Castleberry and his girlfriend at her apartment complex in Uzbekistan." Castleberrys' passport shows he entered Thailand in August of 2008. "The Thai police were aware of the fugitive we were looking for and had set up surveillance on his wife, who was there visiting him. They were seen at a public place, a train station, and they were taken into custody," said Welch. Marshals say Castleberry's wife is a real estate developer who supported him and their two year old son and may not have known he was wanted in the United States. His bond is set at $5 million in California. Final arrangements are being made to bring him back to Texas. - Channel 26 News (Houston, Texas, USA) / 2009-01-27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shebavon Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Good news indeed for Thailand's young girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
