An international fugitive and child sex offender from Georgia was arrested on Saturday in Mexico after nearly five years of evading law enforcement.
Brad A. Hatter was arrested in 2005 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, after he attempted to meet a 9-year-old girl for sexual activity. He planned the meetup after initially making contact with the potential victim online. Authorities arrested him at the meeting location.
Two years later, Hatter was convicted of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
But according to police, he stopped reporting to his probation officer, stopped registering as a sex offender, and began hiding from authorities.
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The probation officers then sought assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.
Investigators discovered in a five-year-long search for Hatter that he fled the U.S. for the Philippines. Authorities eventually spotted him in Mexico, where he was working as a school teacher.
U.S. Marshals worked with Mexican authorities to take him into custody. He was arrested on Saturday.
Hatter was transported to Georgia on Sunday and placed into detention.
"Since 2018, Mr. Hatter has been looking over his shoulder, knowing one day Deputy United States Marshals would find him," Thomas Brown, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a statement.
"On Saturday, December 3rd, that day arrived. The U.S. Marshals would not give up their hunt. Hatter is now back where he belongs, in the custody of the United States Government," the statement continued.
