Man in 1995 case extradited from Denmark, charged with child molestation

A Sacramento man who was charged in 1995 with child molestation and skipped the country, has been extradited to face charges.  

The Sacramento office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has returned (FBI) Mark Anthony Smith, 55, was returned to the United States following his extradition from Denmark.

Smith, who was wanted for federal unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, was located in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 5, 2019, and detained by the Danish authorities pending extradition to the United States. He was then taken into custody by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Sacramento Field Office on October 4, 2019, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and escorted to Sacramento, where he arrived on October 4, 2019. 

Smith was then transferred to the custody of the Sacramento State Police Department—the police department for California State University, Sacramento—and booked into the Sacramento County Jail.

On May 4, 1995, Smith was charged in Sacramento County with two felony counts of committing a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14 and one felony count of attempted kidnapping for the purpose of committing a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14. The federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was obtained on February 9, 1996.

The FBI Sacramento Field Office, FBI Legal Attaché Office in Copenhagen, INTERPOL, Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, and Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office worked collaboratively to ensure Smith’s arrest. Smith’s return was funded by the United States Government’s “Project Welcome Home,” which provides funding to assist in the transportation of federal fugitives to the United States.