Canadian extradited to Utah faces child rape, abuse charges trial

A Canadian citizen sought in Utah for multiple child sexual abuse offenses has been extradited to the United States to stand trial.

Source: Rawpixel

A Canadian citizen sought in Utah for multiple child sexual abuse offenses has been extradited to the United States to stand trial.

In April, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Justin David Lanoue, 44, a Canadian citizen, was extradited from Canada back to Washington County, Utah, where he is set to go on trial for a string of child rape and felony sexual abuse of a minor charges relating to crimes alleged to have occurred over a decade ago.

Lanoue was arrested in Canada on a $100,000 warrant by FBI agents and has spent the majority of his jail time in pre-trial custody in Canada.

True North first learned of Lanoue’s case shortly before his extradition, when the accused made a video appearance in Vancouver Supreme Court requesting a day-pass for dental surgery.

Not only was Lanoue’s day pass denied, but he was shortly thereafter returned to the United States at the end of March. With his case now before the U.S. court system, new details are emerging during Lanoue’s Utah preliminary trial.

Lanoue is facing 11 first-degree felonies, including five counts of aggravated sexual abuse of child, three counts of sodomy upon a child, and one count each of rape, forcible sodomy and object rape of a child.

He has also been charged with two second-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of dealing harmful materials to a minor, each a third-degree felony, along with misdemeanor charges of involving lewdness.

The investigation began when Utah police received a report alleging multiple sexual abuses of a teenager in 2012.

Charging documents related to the case allege the crimes happened dozens of times at various locations—including Lanoue’s residence and his family’s restaurant—over a two-year period.

Court records additionally indicate Lanoue set up a “sex room” inside of his residence where a number of the alleged molestations took place.

After a lengthy years-long investigation, detectives in St. George were ready to make an arrest but were suddenly unable to locate Lanoue.

That's when they reached out to the FBI for assistance, who informed Utah authorities that Lanoue had taken a flight to Calgary on November 5, 2015.

Lanoue arrived in Canada and then went to British Columbia, where his family resided. Meanwhile, authorities in the United States continued their search for him, as indicated by Monday's testimony.

The case remained dormant until 2020 when Lanoue was located and arrested by the RCMP on the Utah warrant.

Following the arrest, Lanoue declined to waive extradition and was, shockingly, released from Canadian custody. However, he was then arrested for a second time by Canadian authorities before being returned to the United States on March 26 of this year.

While originally released by Canadian authorities after his first arrest, U.S. authorities have taken a harsher approach to Lanoue’s case.

The Utah judge in his preliminary trial was adamant he should remain in jail without bail based on a “significant flight risk,” as evidenced by his potential attempt to escape the charges by fleeing to Canada.

For his part, Lanoue and his lawyers have argued, in both U.S. and Canadian courts, that he fled to Canada to be “closer to family.”

The preliminary trial is ongoing.