FBI Top Ten Fugitive Now in Custody
Eric Justin Toth was Wanted for Alleged Possession and Production of Child Pornography

UPDATE 4/24/13: Eric Justin Toth was taken into custody in Nicaragua on April 20, 2013. The picture below shows his current appearance as compared to the photos on his wanted poster. Because Toth was a fugitive for almost five years, the FBI is concerned about additional children he could have potentially victimized. The FBI asks anyone who may have information about Eric Toth to contact the FBI’s Washington Field Office at 202-278-2000.

Current photo of Eric Justin Toth

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave announced today the arrest of FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Eric Justin Toth.

In coordination with Nicaraguan authorities, the FBI’s Panama City Legal Attaché Office and the Regional Security Office of the U.S. Embassy in Managua located Toth in Esteli, Nicaragua, where he was placed into custody on April 20, 2013. His arrest was the result of an exhaustive and well coordinated investigation by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the FBI legal attaché, and special agents of the Diplomatic Security Service assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Managua.

Toth, a former private school teacher and camp counselor, had been sought for his alleged production and possession of child pornography. The investigation into Toth began in June 2008 after pornographic images were found on a school camera that had been in his possession. On June 27, 2008, an arrest warrant was issued for Toth out of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for possession of child pornography and, on December 1, 2008, he was indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland for production of child pornography. Toth had been a fugitive since his alleged criminal activity was discovered, and he was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on April 10, 2012.

A recent tip led law enforcement to Nicaragua, where Toth was living under an alias. Law enforcement was able to trace his recent movements and, through a recent purchase, locate him in Esteli, Nicaragua, where he was taken into custody.

Assistant Director in Charge Parlave praised the Nicaraguan National Police (NNP) Commissioner’s Office, the NNP Trafficking in Persons Unit, and the Nicaraguan Immigration Service for their crucial work in apprehending this fugitive. In addition, Assistant Director in Charge Parlave thanked the Washington Metropolitan Police Department; the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of Columbia and the District of Maryland; the U.S. Embassy Managua Regional Security Office; the Diplomatic Security Service Criminal Investigative Liaison Branch; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Marshals Service’s National Sex Offender Targeting Center; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children-Sex Offender Targeting Team for their diligent work in the investigation.

WFO Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave speaks at a press conference announcing the arrest of Top Ten Fugitive Eric Justin Toth.

The FBI has legal attaché offices and suboffices in more than 70 key cities worldwide, providing coverage for more than 200 countries, territories, and islands. Each office is established through mutual agreement with the host country and is situated in the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in that nation.

The FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list was established in March 1950. Since then, 469 fugitives have been apprehended or located, 155 of them as a result of citizen cooperation.

The public is reminded that all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.