{"id":198548,"date":"2026-03-20T00:47:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/198548\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T00:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T00:47:15","slug":"florida-fugitive-accused-of-molesting-kid-in-1989-finally-nabbed-in-tiny-ny-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/198548\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida fugitive accused of molesting kid in 1989 finally nabbed in tiny NY town"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A fugitive of more than three decades who was accused of <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/30\/us-news\/fla-woman-charged-with-posing-as-teen-to-molest-five-middle-school-age-boys-is-the-real-victim-her-dad\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">molesting a young child in Florida<\/a> was finally captured in a tiny town in New York\u2019s Catskills region Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Joseph Michaels, 68, used a series of fake identities as he settled in the small <a href=\"https:\/\/townofcochectonny.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">town of Cochecton<\/a> in Sullivan County \u2014 and even attempted to pass off an alias when US Marshals Service closed in on him, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmarshals.gov\/news\/press-release\/us-marshals-ny-capture-suspect-wanted-fl-sex-offenses-against-minor-dating-back\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the federal law enforcement agency said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1989, the alleged pervert was hit with charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12, sexual battery and sexual activity with a child by the Hernando County Sheriff\u2019s Office, leading Michaels to flee the Sunshine State, the Marshals said.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38835985\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/postinhouse-nypostinhouse-police-car-light-99480204.jpg\" alt=\"A police car's emergency light bar with flashing red and blue lights.\" class=\"wp-image-38835985\"\/>Joseph Michaels, 68, used various fake identities before settling down in Cochecton, New York, before his capture. Christopher Sadowski<\/p>\n<p>Then just last month, the sheriff\u2019s office requested the US Marshals get involved in the case, while the NYPD and Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s Office also assisted.<\/p>\n<p>New York\/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force members in the Hudson Valley cultivated intel on Michaels\u2019 location, the agency said.<\/p>\n<p>When authorities first approached Michaels in Cochecton \u2014 a town with a population of just 1,500 \u2014 he tried to claim he was someone else before admitting his true identity, the Marshals said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile this arrest comes decades after the alleged crimes occurred, it represents an important step toward justice,\u201d said Ricky Patel, the acting marshal for the Southern District of New York.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50146628;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38835984\" width=\"886\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/distance-hernando-county-cochecton-new-123999524.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of the distance between Hernando County, Florida, and Cochecton, New York, on a map of the United States.\" class=\"wp-image-38835984\"  \/>The alleged molestation occurred in 1989, and Michaels fled from the Sunshine State to the Empire State, where he laid low in a small town in Sullivan County with a population of approximately 1,500.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCases involving crimes against children are never forgotten, and our agencies remain committed to pursuing those responsible no matter how much time has passed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michaels remains in the Empire State ahead of extradition back to Florida.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven after more than three decades, this arrest demonstrates that time does not erase the seriousness of crimes committed against children,\u201d said Jhovanny Gomez, the commander of the NY\/NJ RFTF Task Force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A fugitive of more than three decades who was accused of molesting a young child in Florida was&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,91937,24680,41191,31199,4278],"class_list":["post-198548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fugitives","tag-metro","tag-molestation","tag-us-marshals-service","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}