Fugitive captured in Mexico, returned to Arizona to face child exploitation charges
Jan 7, 2025, 9:57 AM | Updated: 10:00 am
PHOENIX – A fugitive who fled the country over four years ago after being accused of child exploitation has been captured and returned to Phoenix, authorities announced Tuesday.
Glenn Bales, 51, arrived in Arizona on Monday after being arrested in Mexico last month, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
Bales was originally arrested in November 2018 on 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
He was accused of sending images depicting child exploitation through the dating app Grindr, according to the Arizona Republic.
He bonded out in April 2019 under the condition that he wear an ankle monitor. But in 2020, he cut off the monitor and fled the state, police said. A warrant was issued for his arrest in December 2020, according to court records.
A fugitive task force with members of the FBI, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Phoenix Police Department and U.S. Border Patrol opened a federal investigation into Bales’ disappearance.
The case reached the national spotlight when it was featured on the Investigation Discovery true-crime show “In Pursuit With John Walsh” in September 2022.
How was fugitive Glenn Bales located in Mexico?
Investigators got a break in December 2024 when they received a tip that Bales was living and working in Mexico under the name of Jacob Spade.
Task force members found Bales in Mexico, took him into custody and initiated the extradition process. FBI and Mexican immigration agents then flew him to Los Angeles, where Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested him. Task force member then brought him to Phoenix.
His bond was set at $1 million.
