“Let this case be a warning to anyone who would abuse our children,” DA Stephan said.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan recently announced her office was successful in extraditing and charging a man who molested a 5-year-old boy and then fled to Asia.
In April 2017, a family took their 5-year old child to the University of San Diego Campus to attend a church service. There, the child encountered 72-year old Chester Yang and was molested by the elderly man. Yang then fled to Taiwan, the day after his family was contacted by police.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office Extraditions Unit worked tirelessly to bring Yang back to the United States to face charges. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced last month that child molestation charges were being filed against Yang, with a preliminary hearing date that was set for Dec. 29.
Taiwan does not have an extradition agreement with the United States. The process of bringing back a fugitive from a foreign country is complex and has exact legal requirements that must be followed. International extradition requires that the Extraditions Unit work with local and federal law enforcement, the US Department of Justice and foreign governments.
The US Marshals service worked with Taiwanese authorities, nurturing a cooperative relationship that allowed them to agree to alert Interpol if Yang left Taiwan. The call they were waiting for came in late May. Yang was on the move, having flown to Singapore. The DA’s office along with Deputy Marshal Todd Loveless organized to have Yang extradited back to San Diego County, with the help of Interpol and US federal authorities. On Dec. 13, he was back in San Diego and in custody.
Yang is charged with one count of oral copulation on a child under the age of 14 by a person more than 10 years older, and two counts of lewd acts on a child. When all possible charges are considered, if convicted, he may spend the rest of his life behind bars.
“Let this case be a warning to anyone who would abuse our children. We will not stop pursuing justice, whether the defendant flees our jurisdiction or not,” Stephan said.
Deputy District Attorney Melissa Diaz, the Chief of the DA’s Family Protection Division will prosecute the case.
“I am grateful to the international and local team that assembled to bring this predator to justice including the U.S. Marshals Service, Interpol, the San Diego Police Department’s Child Abuse Unit, and our own District Attorney investigators. Chester Yang will be held accountable for his crimes,” Stephan stated.
