The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida -- A suspected child molester who was featured on “America’s Most Wanted” was arrested at the airport when he returned from his native Jamaica, officials said.
Winston Whittingham, 42, was charged with multiple counts of sexual battery on a child, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday. He was being held without bond at Broward County jail. If convicted he could face life in prison.
He was arrested Tuesday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after immigration officials identified him as a wanted fugitive, deputies said.
Whittingham had been arrested in January 2002 and charged with sexually assaulting his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter. He was released on bond and was arrested again that March, but again was released on bond, deputies said.
Whittingham moved back in with his girlfriend in January 2003. Within a month, deputies said he was again sexually assaulting the daughter.
The girlfriend was arrested in May 2003 and charged with child neglect. But Whittingham had fled, deputies said.
He was featured in May 2004 on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”