VANCOUVER – A B.C. man has been deported back to Canada from the U.S. following a two-year legal effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Raymond Douglas Charles Macleod, 72, is accused of raping a five-year-old girl with cerebral palsy in 1974. The offence is alleged to have taken place at a residence on Upland Street in Prince George.
Prince George RCMP say Macleod was originally found not guilty, but Crown Counsel won an appeal and a new trial was ordered. He was arrested in Burlington, Ontario, in June 1979 on unrelated charges. He was served documents to appear in court, but failed to do so. A Canada wide arrest warrant was issued in 1980, but he was never located.
Macleod was escorted to Vancouver on a commercial flight from L.A. on Tuesday. He was first arrested in October, 2013, by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers and L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies at a San Dimas trailer park where he had been living under a different name. He was ordered to be deported in March, 2014, but he appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but he was not successful.
“For the victim in this case, justice has been a long time coming, but she can take consolation in the fact that her alleged assailant is now being held accountable,” said David Jennings, field office director for ERO Los Angeles. “I applaud my officers and the ICE attorneys whose perseverance made this happen. We will not allow our country to serve as a safe haven for those who commit reprehensible crimes.”
Macleod is expected to arrive in Prince George on Thursday and make his first appearance in Prince George Provincial Court on Friday.
Since October, 2009, ERO has removed more than 900 foreign fugitives from the United States, sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder.
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