SEATTLE - A man King County prosecutors believe may have molested multiple members of his own extended family as far back as 1966 was arrested today in Panama City, Fla., by Deputy U.S. Marshals from the North Florida Violent Fugitive Task Force.

Roger Alan Scherner, of Carmel, Calif., was tracked to Panama City on information provided by the Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force (PNWFAT) in Seattle. Scherner is currently being held at the Bay County Jail facing extradition back to Washington State.

Scherner failed to appear for his trial in Seattle on Feb. 28, where he is facing two counts of first degree rape of a child and one count of first degree child molestation. The incident allegedly occurred when the victim was only 7-years-old and vacationing in Bellevue with Scherner. Now a teenager, the child told her mother in 2003 about the abuse and Bellevue police detectives began investigating the case.

Bellevue police detectives interviewed multiple family members and friends who reportedly said they too had been molested by Scherner over the years. The victims, all currently adults, range in age from their late 20s to early 50s. Although the statute of limitations on these allegations has expired, and Scherner could not be charged with any potential crimes, many of the victims were prepared to testify against him at his trial scheduled to start last week.

Scherner was originally arrested on the charges in California in late Jan., 2007. He was then extradited to King County, and later released on $250,000 dollar bail in mid-Feb., 2007. When Scherner failed to show for his trial last week, King County Superior Court Judge Cheryl Carey issued a warrant for Scherner’s arrest and set bail at $10 million.

The Bellevue Police Department and the King County Prosecutor’s Office requested the assistance of the PNWFAT in locating and apprehending Scherner. Within days, PNWFAT investigators determined that Scherner had fled to Florida and a collateral lead was sent to the U.S. Marshals Office in Panama City.

“Deputy U.S. Marshals and Fugitive Task Force Officers both here in Seattle and in Panama City have worked tirelessly this past week in order bring this dangerous sexual predator to justice” said David Y. Miller, Acting U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Washington. “Our sincere thanks go out to those dedicated deputies on the ground in Florida who persevered until Mr. Scherner was finally located and taken off the street.”

The PNWFAT is a U.S. Marshals-sponsored partnership comprised of investigators from the King County Sheriff's Office, Seattle Police Department, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, Washington State Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The Task Force is supported by the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative and was formed to concentrate apprehension efforts to remove federal, state and local fugitives from the streets. The Task Force objective is to disrupt illegal gang, gun and drug activity in the Pacific Northwest and to reduce the amount of violence in the region.

For more information about the U.S. Marshals Service, visit http://www.usmarshals.gov or U.S. Marshal’s Western Washington website at www.usmarshals.gov/district/wa-w. For additional information on the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, go to the PSN website at www.psn.gov.

For information on the apprehension, contact the US Marshals Service, Western District of Washington; for information on the criminal case, call the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

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