FBI agents have been on the hunt for a man they believe sexually abused a 4-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy and distributed photos of the abuse via illegal child pornography sites.
Last night, around 9:40 p.m., FBI agents arrested John Tucker, 56, of Pahoa, Hawaii, without incident “for production and distribution of child pornography.”
The arrest followed a plea from the FBI on Tuesday asking the public to help identify the suspect they likely lived on Hawaii Island during the time the photos were taken, possibly between 2008 and 2010.
Investigators for the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified the suspect as a possible Hawaii Island resident through the image of what looked to be a 2008 Hawaiian Telcom phone book for Big Island residents in the background of the photo.
The desktop computer, also depicted in a photograph, led investigators to conclude the alleged crimes did not take place in a hotel room.
By Wednesday morning, FBI Special Agent Tom Simon announced the FBI located the suspect through a tip. The FBI, along with county police, raided Tucker’s home and business.
Tucker and his wife, Petra Wiesenbauer, run the Hale Makamae Bed and Breakfast in Pahoa. Wiesenbauer posted pictures on a social media site of her and Tucker with their two children, a girl about 6 and boy about 11.
According to their business web site, Wiesenbauer is from Germany and Tucker is from the East Coast. They said they moved back to Hawaii in 1997 and have lived on the Big Island since 1999. On their web site, the couple states: “Feel welcome in our warm family environment – we love children.”
They have several stunning photos of Hawaii island and their property posted on their business web site. Several customers offer first rate reviews of the business, but two posted more observant comments about the family:
One customer said: “Our host Petra, however was very nice and served a simple breakfast. A gentleman, whom I assume is her husband on the other hand seemed very stand-offish. We felt like we were invading his house. It gave us a very unsettling feeling the whole time.”
Another customer said: “I like kids, but enough is enough, the kids are very nice but won’t leave you alone, so it can be hard for peace and quiet alone.”
Simon said a formal criminal complaint will be filed on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Tucker is being transported from Hawaii Island to face the charges in Honolulu’s U.S. District Court on Thursday. Simon thanked Hawaii County Police for their partnership in the joint investigation.
Simon pointed out 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.”
FBI agents have not said whether Tucker’s own children are the children allegedly depicted in the child pornography.
Simon said on Tuesday before identifying Tucker as the alleged perpetrator: “The graphic pictures of the suspect performing sex acts on two young children are an absolute nightmare.”
When you hire DeLima, your guilty. Bed and Breakfast…..
Tucker was well known in the puna area for sexual misconduct.
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