Colon

Colon

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WILKES-BARRE — A former Hazleton man who fled the United States while facing child sexual assault charges in the early 2000s was sentenced in Luzerne County Court on Tuesday.

Angel Emilio Colon, 63, was sentenced by Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough to two years, four months to four years, eight months on two counts of statutory sexual assault and a single count of aggravated indecent assault. Colon must also serve three years probation when he is released from state prison.

State police at Hazleton charged Colon in 2002 with sexually assaulting a then 10-year-old girl and taking inappropriate pictures of the child from 2000 through 2002, according to court records.

State police learned of the assaults and pictures when a roll of 35mm film was developed at Walmart in Hazle Township on Aug. 23, 2002, court records say.

Investigators questioned the girl who claimed Colon forced her to pose for him. Days after she was asked about the pictures, the girl reported Colon had been sexually assaulting her for years, according to court records.

Colon was arrested twice and jailed for lack of $125,000 total bail during 2002.

Former judge Michael T. Conahan reduced Colon’s bail to $25,000 on Jan. 29, 2003.

After Colon posted bail, he never appeared for trial that was scheduled for June 2003.

Colon’s whereabouts were unknown for 17 years until the U.S. Marshals announced he was captured in the Dominican Republic in December 2020. Colon appeared on the state police Most Wanted list in 2018.