Agents find sex offender, former Glendale police officer in Mexico after four years on the run

A former Glendale police officer and attorney accused of child molestation was arrested in Mexico Thursday after four years on the lam, federal officials said.

Registered sex offender Arthur Crabtree, 54, was arrested by Mexican authorities in Puerto Vallarta, where he’d been using false identification, and deported to the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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Crabtree, who spent more than 15 years on the Glendale police force before leaving in 2000 to practice law, was arrested in January 2005 after arranging a meeting with an undercover agent posing as a 13-year-old girl at the Greyhound bus station in downtown Los Angeles.

The following year, he was convicted of one felony count of attempted lewd acts on a child, three felony counts of attempting to send harmful material over the Internet, four misdemeanor counts of attempted child molestation and one misdemeanor count of child molestation.

Testimony and evidence presented during the trial revealed that Crabtree had solicited an underage Santa Clarita girl and several undercover agents who posed as five different teenage girls.

Crabtree was released from prison in August 2009.

A couple years later, he was arrested during a routine compliance check after allegedly violating the terms of his parole when agents reportedly found two computers and other suspicious materials in his Glendale home.

According to federal court records, investigators found evidence on Crabtree’s laptop that he was in contact with minors. He was subsequently charged with one count of child molestation.

In 2012, he reportedly failed to show up to court, and investigators believe he fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution.

FBI agents this week received a tip that Crabtree was living in Puerto Vallarta and worked with Mexican law enforcement officials, who took Crabtree into custody.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, [email protected]

Twitter: @atchek