Man Found Hiding In CT Woods After Fleeing MA, Child Porn Charges

CONNECTICUT — A 40-year-old man wanted in Massachusetts on multiple charges including child pornography has been arrested by the U.S. Marshals after he was found hiding in the woods in Connecticut, officials said Monday.

The man — Steven Labrecque — was taken into custody at a secluded campsite in Woodstock, where he is alleged to have been hiding for months, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Labrecque is wanted by Franklin and New Bedford police in Massachusetts on charges of child pornography, photographing intimate parts of a child, intimidation of a witness, reckless endangerment of a child, threatening, obscene matter to a minor, assault, and battery, officials said.

After attempts to locate and apprehend Labrecque were unsuccessful, local police requested assistance from the U.S. Marshals, according to officials. The U.S. Marshals Service investigation led to the Woodstock hideout.

After his arrest, Labrecque was transported to Connecticut State Police where he was processed as a fugitive from justice and awaits extradition back to Massachusetts to face the charges, officials said.

"The high-risk apprehension of Mr. Steven Labrecque on charges related to child pornography is the culmination of investigative efforts spanning multiple states and involving the close collaboration between federal, state, and local departments," Lawrence Bobnick, acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Connecticut said Monday.

He continued, in part: "Despite his extraordinary efforts to elude capture, the apprehension of Mr. Labrecque demonstrates the tenacity of the USMS Violent Fugitive Task Force and the incredible value our law enforcement partnerships have in fulfilling our mutual mission of improving the safety of the communities we serve."

Since its inception in 1999, the U.S. Marshals Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task force — which seeks out violent fugitives and sexual predators — has been responsible for over 11,000 arrests as of September 2022, according to officials.