Mexican officials have arrested former University of Southern California professor Walter Lee Williams who is on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, BBC News reports.
Williams, 64, was wanted for sexual exploitation of children and sexual activity with minors in the Philippines. He was arrested at a café in Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.
Williams travelled to Southeast Asia under the guise of academic research for his anthropology and gender studies courses at USC, Reuters reports. During his travels, Williams allegedly engaged in sexual activity with at least 10 identified victims aged between 9 and 17.
Attorney General Armando Garcia said it was unclear whether Williams had engaged in similar activities in Mexico. “It’s not known what he was up to, but he had a home in Cancun,” Garcia told Reuters.
The FBI added Williams to its Most Wanted list on Monday, making him the 500th fugitive to be named to the database since its creation in 1950, reports BBC News. The FBI uses its list to rouse public support in catching offenders considered the nation’s worst criminals.
The Most Wanted program has been extremely successful. Of all 500 people to be named to the list, 469 have been apprehended or located.