Fugitive accused of child rape in Utah arrested after evading police around world for 2 years

September 19, 2018 Utah Channel 3

ST. GEORGE — A man accused of raping a child in Layton was arrested Wednesday after a two-year manhunt for him included officials from across the globe.

Brian Helton, 45, allegedly raped and sodomized a child living in the same home as him in Layton in 2016. He had moved from Chicago and was living with a family friend in Davis County when the sexual abuse allegedly occurred twice over a two-week period, according to a press release from the U.S. Marshals Service.

“Once the child told the parents what was going on, Helton immediately packed up his few belongings, fled the state and went back to Chicago,” officials wrote on the press release.

U.S. Marshals from Utah started to get involved with the case in an attempt to arrest Helton, but despite their “fervent” investigation, they were “always seeming to be a step behind,” according to the press release.

He was eventually discovered to be living in Thailand, but when Helton began to be suspicious that the Royal Thai Police were getting close to apprehending him, he fled to Japan in an attempt to sneak back into the U.S., officials said.

When Helton boarded a direct flight from Japan to San Francisco, Japanese officials, through Interpol, notified the U.S. Marshals Service Wednesday afternoon. Officials arrested the “surprised” Helton in the San Francisco International Airport without further incident, according to the press release.

“Through the tireless efforts of our investigators, including our domestic and international partners, this fugitive who has been on the run for over two years will finally be brought to justice,” U.S. Marshal Mathew Harris said. “Time may pass, but deputy U.S. Marshals never quit until we find our man.”

Now that he’s back in the U.S., Helton faces his charges from the Layton Police Department, including sodomy of a child, aggravated sexual abuse of a child and object rape of a child.

“It doesn’t matter where in the world the fugitive chooses to run, they will eventually get caught,” Supervisor Deputy U.S. Marshal Derryl Spencer said.

Email: sricks@stgnews.com

Twitter: @STGnews | @SpencerRicks