A Filipino ex-priest is facing extradition to the US for allegedly sexually abusing minors there in the 1990s, authorities said on Wednesday.
Fernando Sayasaya, 53, was tracked down by police in a province outside Manila on Sunday nearly two decades after he fled the US and went into hiding in the Philippines.
He was accused of molesting two boys in the state of North Dakota where he worked for the Catholic Church, police said.
He was put on administrative leave in 1998 following the allegations, but a US court only issued an arrest warrant for Sayasaya in 2002.
“He was charged of gross sexual imposition, that he (allegedly) made sexual contact on two young brothers who were aged under 15 at that time,” Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras said.
Before fleeing the US, Sayasaya apparently told his superiors he wanted to spend Christmas in the Philippines but never returned, Paras added.