Gwinnett County fugitive child sex offender caught in Mexico after 5 years on run

Brad Hatter Mugshot (Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office) (Supplied)

After nearly five years on the run, the United States Marshals Service has caught an international fugitive and child sexual predator.

In Dec. 2005, 58-year-old Brad A. Hatter was arrested in Gwinnett County for trying to meet up with a 9-year-old girl for sexual activity. Authorities said he orchestrated the whole thing after meeting his potential victim online. He was taken into custody at the location he organized for the two of them to meet.

In May 2007, Hatter was convicted of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and sentenced to 108 months in prison. However, police said he stopped reported reporting to his probation officer, stopped registering as a sex offender and went into hiding.

The probation officers immediately got the United States Marshals service involved.

In a five-year-long search for Hatter, investigators found that he fled the states for the Philippines. Eventually, authorities reported seeing him Mexico where he was working as a teacher.

U.S. Marshals teamed up Mexican authorities to arrest him on Dec. 3.

Hatter was sent back to Georgia on Dec. 4 and placed into detention where officials said he remains.

"Since 2018, Mr. Hatter has been looking over his shoulder, knowing one day Deputy United States Marshals would find him," United States Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia Thomas Brown said in a statement, "On Saturday December 3rd, that day arrived. The U.S. Marshals would not give up their hunt. Hatter is now back where he belongs, in the custody of the United States Government."