William Balser and Robin Robinson eluded the law for almost 20 years, fleeing charges of committing horrific acts of child sex abuse against Robinson’s two daughters in Manteca, California, throughout much of the 1990s. At one point, Balser — who police say not only repeatedly raped the young girls as their mother watched, but severely beat them as well — called police to taunt them, declaring that they would never catch him.
But “never” is a long time, and despite his arrogant prediction, the United States Marshals Service finally caught up with the fugitive accused molesters, who have been on the lam living under fake identities since 1998, arresting the 56-year-old Balser and 59-year-old Robinson at their home on Dean Street in West Valley, Utah, on Wednesday.
Though Robinson made a run for it as U.S. Marhsals with the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team moved in, Balser barricaded himself in the home with a shotgun and a handgun — but the marshals were able to talk him out of a potentially deadly confrontation and he finally gave up without any shots fired.
Manteca Police have been searching for the perverted couple ever since they fled in 1998 after the two girls reported the abuse to police and Balser was charged with unlawful intercourse with a child, lewd acts with a minor, and continuous sexual abuse.
Manteca Police at the time issued these photos, below, which shows what the couple looked like in the late 1990s.
In 2006, the Manteca police teamed up with the Marshals service, and in the following year, the sicko lovers were featured on an episode of America’s Most Wanted .
One of Robinson’s two young daughters first reported Balser’s unrelenting sexual attacks on her and her sister back in 1994, but police say that the girls’ mother, who is said to have watched the assaults, pressured the girl to recant her accusations against Balser.
The girl relented and police had no choice but to release Balser from jail — allowing him to continue raping, molesting, and beating the girls for another four years, according to the allegations against him.
Early this year, investigators — after fruitlessly searching numerous states for Balser and Robinson — received information that the fugitive couple were living under assumed identities in the Salt Lake City area. After months of surveillance, they became certain that they spotted the wanted couple, and moved in to make the arrests.
Earlier in July, an Alabama couple was arrested for allegedly molesting the mom’s young daughters in ways that local authorities described as “too heinous” to make public.
William Balser and Robin Robinson are now awaiting extradition back to California where they will face the multiple child sex abuse charges.
[Images: U.S. Marshall’s Service]