The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested in Taguig City an American wanted in the United States for sexual offenses against minors and kidnapping.
The apprehension was made pursuant to the government’s intensified #ShieldKids campaign meant to protect Filipino children from foreign sex offenders.
The suspect, identified as Young Tom Talmadge, 69, was collared by operatives of the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) at his residence in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite after receiving information about his crimes from the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Talmadge was the subject of a warrant of arrest issued on March 20, 2025, by the 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Hillsborough County, Florida, for the crimes of sexual assault against a minor, lewd and lascivious acts on a child, and kidnapping to commit a felony against a child.
The charges were connected to a 1989 case involving the abduction and rape of a seven-year-old girl in Tampa, Florida. The suspect remained unidentified for decades, until a recent breakthrough by U.S. law enforcement using genealogical research and preserved DNA evidence led them to Talmadge.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) confirmed a match between Talmadge and the DNA evidence from the 1989 case.
BI-FSU acting chief Rendel Ryan Sy reported that Talmadge was also the subject of a deportation case for undesirability, being a fugitive from justice.
Talmadge was brought to BI detention in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, where he will remain in custody pending deportation proceedings.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said Talmadge’s arrest was part of the BI’s broader #ShieldKids campaign, aimed at preventing the Philippines from being a haven for foreign sex offenders.
“We will continue to work closely with international counterparts to protect Filipino children and uphold justice,” Viado said.