FBI Nabs One Of Its Most Wanted, Suspect Once Lived In Riverside County

One of FBI's most wanted fugitives, who used to live in Palm Springs, was in custody in Mexico today in connection with federal charges he traveled to the Philippines to engage in sex with boys as young as 9.

Walter Lee Williams, 64, was arrested Tuesday night after the FBI received a tip he was on the Yucatan peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo. FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said arrangements were being made to return Williams to the United States.

The FBI was offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of Williams, who was wanted for alleged sexual exploitation of children and traveling abroad to engage in illicit sexual acts with children.

In April, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Williams. The former university professor and native of Durham, N.C., allegedly engaged in illicit sexual conduct with two underage boys in the Philippines in January 2011. He got a "visual depiction" of the sex acts involving one of the boys, who was 14, and transported the material to Los Angeles, according to a federal indictment filed last April.

Williams was affiliated with the Buddhist Universal Association in Los Angeles. He had an "extensive" history of travel in southeast Asia, specifically the Philippines. He reportedly lived in Indonesia, Polynesia and Thailand, according to the FBI.

Williams was a professor of gender and sexuality studies at USC until 2011.

Williams' capture came one day after he was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives list. --City News Service