UPDATE: Arrest Made in Alleged Child Sexual Abuse Case

Photo courtesy FBI.

By Wendy Osher

***An UPDATE has since been posted including details of a criminal complaint filed today in US District Court.  It is available at the following direct LINK.

Tips from the public have led to the identification and arrest of an individual sought by the FBI for child sex abuse allegations.

Just before 10 p.m. on Wednesday, FBI special agents arrested 56-year-old John Tucker of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawai’i on suspicion of production and distribution of child pornography.

The arrest was based on probable cause. A criminal complaint is expected to be filed today, as well as a first appearance in US District Court in Honolulu.

Tucker was to be transported by the FBI from Hawai’i’s Big Island to Oahu to face the charges.

The case first came to the FBI’s attention in 2010 when a series of photographs surfaced on the internet depicting the man allegedly engaging in graphic sex acts with two children.

The agency released a photograph and informational poster earlier this week in the hopes that new leads would surface via social media.

The FBI would acknowledged the Hawaii County Police Department for their partnership in the joint investigation.

The public is reminded that an arrest is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.