Child Rapist Captured In England Returned To Montco: DA

NORRISTOWN, PA — A convicted local child rapist who skipped bail 18 years ago and committed more crimes before he was captured in the United Kingdom is being extradited back to Montgomery County, authorities announced Tuesday.

Gerard Zalewski, 41, originally fled Montgomery County in April 2006 prior to his sentencing hearing, police said. He was captured a decade later in 2016 in Lancashire, England, where he victimized more young girls, according to authorities.

Zalewski was originally arrested on Aug. 15, 2004 in Montgomery County after he had several sexual chats online with a undercover officer posing as a 12-year-old girl, the DA's Office said. Investigators said they later discovered that just a few months before, in June, Zalewski had sexually abused a 13-year-old girl from Bucks County.

He pled guilty on Nov. 14, 2005 to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and related charges, and was due back in court on March 29, 2006. He failed to appear, and was sentenced to 5 to 20 years in state prison.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office worked with the FBI, Interpol, and the US Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in the manhunt. Zalewski was put watchlists, including the FBI's "America's Most Wanted" list.

Zalewski was eventually tracked to Kent, England, where he'd been arrested for grooming and then raping a 13-year-old girl, police said. He met the girl in a park and abused her for hours, taping her mouth with masking tape, putting a dog collar around her neck, and writing "rape me" on her leg, according to local authorities.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the UK in Dec. 2016. He's been behind bars ever since, and was picked up this week by Montgomery County Detectives at Philadelphia International Airport. In addition to the crimes he's already been convicted of, Zalewski will also be charged for fleeing and not appearing in court.

A preliminary hearing on the additional counts is set for Sept. 4.