U.S. Sex Crime Suspect Arrested in Costa Rica

Through a joint effort between Costa Rican and international police, U.S. citizen Richard D. Pate, accused of sexually abusing a minor, was arrested in the Central Valley coffee town of Atenas on Dec. 1, according to a statement released this week by the international police agency Interpol.

Pate is wanted by a court in the U.S.county of Williamson, Texas, where he is accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl in 2003. He allegedly tied her up with a blanket and raped her.

Interpol officials in San José began looking for him in 2005, when an investigation revealed he had entered Costa Rica. He was arrested at the southern border town of Sixaola in 2006 but later freed because of a technicality, the statement said.

Pate was deported to the United States Wednesday morning.