A man from Virginia was put to the FBI’s list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives in 2024 after he was found guilty on several charges of sexually abusing youngsters and publishing child pornography. 38-year-old Donald Eugene Fields II has been evading capture since 2022, when he neglected to show up for his sentencing hearing in the Eastern District of Virginia U.S. District Court.
Background
Fields was taken into custody in 2020 following an FBI and Virginia State Police investigation that exposed his production and distribution of child pornography featuring multiple victims, some of whom were as young as 4 years old. The FBI claims that he also sexually assaulted several of the kids he took advantage of. Fields entered a guilty plea to four charges of producing child pornography, one charge of disseminating child pornography, and one charge of forcing and luring a minor into having an illicit sexual encounter. His highest punishment might have been life in jail and there was a mandatory minimum of 15 years.
Escape and Manhunt
In anticipation of his June 2022 sentencing, Fields was freed on bond. He did, however, turn off his electronic monitoring device and leave the location, leaving a note apologizing for his actions and expressing his love for his family. Ever since then, the FBI and the US Marshals Service have been looking for Fields, investigating hundreds of leads and tips from the general public. Fields is thought to be armed and dangerous; in order to avoid capture, he might have changed his appearance or adopted an alias. He may have visited other states or nations, and he has connections to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
Reward and Appeal
A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered by the FBI for information that results in Fields’s apprehension. It is recommended that anyone with information regarding his whereabouts submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov or call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324). The FBI also requests that the public report any suspicious behavior to law authorities and keep an eye out for any indications of child abuse or exploitation.
Conclusion
Fields is the most recent addition to the FBI’s list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, which was created in 1950 with the goal of raising public awareness and encouraging help in the capture of the most dangerous criminals in the country. Since then, 492 fugitives have been apprehended or found out of which 524 have been added to the list; 163 of these have been found out thanks to public assistance. Fields is the only Virginian wanted person on the list at the moment and only the second in the state’s history. The first was Thomas Brooks, who was apprehended in 1983 after being sought for the 1979 murder of a Virginia State Trooper. The FBI is hoping that Fields will soon be added to the list of those apprehended and brought to justice for his horrible actions.