Udon Thani police arrested Shawn Micheal Mathews, a 41-year-old American who reportedly fled the US after posting bail in 2002 for charges of sexual assault on minors.
The wanted man was captured with the help of a tip off to Thai police from US authorities.
On Sept. 3, Mathews asked a friend to extend his tourist visa in Vientiane, Laos which gave US Embassy Vientiane officials a clue to his whereabouts.
The Embassy called Thai police who arrested Mathews at Somthawil Bungalow.
Matthews allegedly committed sexual assaults on minors in Utah and Illinois on March 21, 2002 and escaped from the US after posting bail, ThaiRath reported. He had reportedly been teaching at university in Udon Thani for the past two years and keeping a low profile.
Udon Thani police said that Mathews had made bail for USD20,000 and tried to fight the case. When he realized he would lose, he fled to China and became an English teacher for a few years before moving to Thailand when Chinese police began to search for him, police said.
Mathews will be deported to America and his prosecution will continue, Thairath reported.
