District attorney wants alleged molester jailed The...

District attorney wants alleged molester jailed

The Orange County district attorney’s office wants former Costa

Mesa resident George Joseph England, 60, to spend at least six years

in state prison. England, who fled California in 1977 after being convicted on three counts of child molestation, was arrested Thursday

in Florida.

The district attorney’s office announced England’s arrest Monday.

He has yet to serve time for the convictions.

“The judge allowed him to get out of jail for a few days to put

his life in order and he never came back,” district attorney

spokesman Mark Macaulay said.

England was arrested on a yacht in Ft. Lauderdale by the U.S.

Marshall’s office on suspicion of two counts of passport fraud,

according to a press release. He has yet to be extradited to

California. Prosecutors plan to seek the maximum sentence under 1977

law. The district attorney’s office stated in the press release that

England could spend 45 years to life in prison if convicted under

current law.

England was a member of the U.S. Army in Vietnam during the

mid-1960s. After leaving the service, he worked as a contractor in

that country and brought a Vietnamese girl with him when he returned

to the United States in 1972. Prosecutors believe he used his “fake

daughter” as bait to draw three girls, ages 8 to 10, to his mobile

home in Costa Mesa. He was convicted in October 1977.

In Florida, England used the name Stephen Arthur Seagoe,

prosecutors said. England used the identity of an Oregon boy who died

when only 11 months old to secure a Social Security number and

driver’s license in Florida.

Prosectors did not release the name of the girl England brought to

the United States from Vietnam, and believe England sexually abused

her in Florida. She married in 1988 and left his home, and

prosecutors believe she and England have not spoken since 1995.

In April, the FBI told the district attorney’s office about

England’s false identity. The tip led to England’s alias being added

to his arrest warrant.