Watch CBS News

Man On FBI's Most Wanted List Captured In Central America

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A man on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List is back in the U.S. after being captured in Central America on Saturday. Eric Toth had been on the run after warrants were issued in Maryland and D.C. more than five years ago.

Mary Bubala has more.

Eric Toth changed his appearance a lot, but not enough to keep someone from finally recognizing him. The former D.C. private school teacher accused of making child pornography in Maryland was captured in Nicaragua after a tourist--who had seen the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List on a billboard--called police.

"On April 18, we received information directly from a tipster. The information was of such a quality that it led us directly to Eric Toth in Nicaragua," said Valerie Parlave, FBI.

In 2008, a camera containing pornographic pictures of one of his former students was found in his possession at the Beauvoir School in D.C.

At a news conference Tuesday, authorities say he was extradited back to the United States to be fully prosecuted.

"We did not waiver in our search for Toth and this investigation will continue to piece together his activities in Nicaragua and anywhere else he's been since 2008," said Parlave.

Back then, Toth was tracked to Hammond, Ind. and Madison, Wis. He left a fake suicide note in a car at the Minnesota-St. Paul airport. A year later, he turned up in Phoenix, Ariz., working in a homeless shelter.

Investigators say Toth took explicit photos of young boys and set up a video camera in the boys' bathroom at the D.C. school. They fear Toth victimized boys across the country and world.

"The fact that he is a known child predator and that he's been on the run for five years...we assume that there's potentially other victims and other places that he's been," Parlave said.

Officials in Nicaragua say Toth entered the country using a fake passport.

There was a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.