After six years on the run, one of Massachusetts' most wanted fugitives is captured in Ecuador

One of the Massachusetts State Police's most wanted fugitives was located and arrested in Ecuador after spending six years on the run from U.S. justice.

Jude Demeis, a 55-year-old resident of Northampton, was extradited this week to Massachusetts to face charges related to child sexual abuse material, according to local authorities and media reports.

An investigation that began in 2019

The case dates back to March 2019, when the Northampton Police Department began investigating a report about a video shared on social media that allegedly contained child sexual abuse material.

In September of that year, a Hampshire County grand jury indicted Demeis on three counts of possession of child pornography and one count of posing or exhibiting a nude minor. An arrest warrant was issued on September 10, 2019, according to the official record from the Massachusetts State Police.

However, authorities were unable to arrest him because he had left the jurisdiction. In 2020, he was added to the Massachusetts State Police's Most Wanted list.

Located and arrested in Ecuador

Demeis was finally located in Ecuador thanks to cooperation between the FBI, the Massachusetts State Police, and Ecuadorian authorities.

The Ecuadorian National Police reported that he was arrested on June 2, 2026, in the Rumiñahui canton, on the outskirts of Quito, during an operation coordinated with the FBI for the purpose of extradition.

Subsequently, the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Embassy in Quito, the Diplomatic Security Service, and other agencies participated in the process of transferring him to the United States. The U.S. Marshals Service escorted the defendant to Boston.