An American man wanted by the FBI on charges of child sexual abuse has been discovered living under a false identity in a quiet Hampshire village. Roger Giese, 40, fled the United States in 2007 just before he was due to stand trial for allegedly abusing a boy over a four-year period.
Giese, a former choir master, is accused of befriending a 13-year-old boy in 1998 while working as a voice coach for the All-American Boys Chorus. He allegedly molested the child, known only as 'John Doe', until 2002. Prosecutors in Orange County, California, have charged him with 19 counts of committing lewd acts with a child.
According to the Orange County District Attorney's Most Wanted notice, Giese is also accused of pretending to be a member of the elite US military unit Delta Force. He allegedly convinced the teenager that he could join the unit by providing samples of bodily fluids, including semen, urine, blood and stool.
Giese disappeared after allegedly draining his then wife Kjersti's bank account. He was arrested in the UK in June 2014 following an extradition request certified by the Home Office in May 2014. However, a British judge declined to allow his extradition, and Giese is now fighting to remain in the UK, claiming it would breach his human rights to be sent back.
Living under the assumed name Jonathan Roberts in Broughton, Hampshire, Giese has been working for a PR company that counts Thomas Cook among its clients. His wife, who divorced him after he vanished, said she believed he was innocent. The FBI had previously feared Giese may have fled to North Carolina, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands or Norway.
