A 33-year-old man who Hawaii Island police had sought for the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl in Puna more than five-and-a-half years ago was apprehended in Mexico and brought back to face criminal charges. ADVERTISING A 33-year-old man
A 33-year-old man who Hawaii Island police had sought for the alleged sexual assault of a minor girl in Puna more than five-and-a-half years ago was apprehended in Mexico and brought back to face criminal charges.
Mauro Martin Ortiz was taken into custody by local police at 7:40 p.m. Thursday night at the Hilo International Airport, police said. He was charged with kidnapping, seven counts of first-degree sexual assault and five courts of third-degree sexual assault.
“I can’t go into details of where he was found, but he was found in Mexico and brought in on an extradition warrant by the U.S. Marshals,” Lt. Richard Sherlock of Hilo Patrol Division said Friday.
A bench warrant set Ortiz’s bail at $1 million dollars.
The charges stem from an incident in the early morning hours of June 22, 2008, in Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision, where Ortiz lived at the time. Police said at the time that the victim didn’t suffer any physical injuries other than the sexual assault.
Ortiz was indicted by a Hilo grand jury on July 10, 2008, but police couldn’t locate him to arrest him at the time. Numerous media bulletins were issued and he was featured on “Hawaii Island’s Most Wanted.”
