CO Man Wanted On 130+ Sex Assault Charges Arrested In Ecuador

A Colorado man wanted on 131 sexual assault charges was arrested in Ecuador last week after having been on the run for years after fleeing the U.S. in 2016.

According to the Denver Post, 68-year-old Peter Dettmer was arrested in Cuenca, Ecuador, last week, on April 27, as per reports via news outlets in Ecuador. Colorado law enforcement officials confirmed on Monday (May 3) that Dettmer was arrested in connection to a 2016 case out of Jefferson County.

“This has been a lot of work over the last few years to get this individual into custody, so this is pretty significant for our agency,” Golden police Deputy Chief Joe Harvey said.

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Online court records show Dettmer faces 131 charges, including sexual assault in which the victim in the situation was physically helpless, and charges related to taking a photo of someone’s intimate parts without permission.

Additional information regarding the alleged assaults was not made publicly available as of Monday. Chief Harvey said, however, that all the allegations against Dettmer were related to sex crimes.

Peter Robert Dettmer was arrested in Colorado on June 10, 2016, on the above charges and entered a plea of not guilty on Aug. 29, 2016, according to court records. Dettmer then failed to appear in court for a trial scheduled for Jan. 23, 2017.

“It was disappointing when the gentleman was able to post bond and then next thing you know, he’s gone,” Chief Harvey said.

The Ecuadorian news outlet, Informados Ecuador shared the below footage of members of the country’s national police arresting Dettmer at a building in Cuenca, Ecuador. The news outlet reported Dettmer was later transported to Quito, Ecuador’s capital.

Colorado law enforcement officials are currently working to extradite Dettmer.