Pennsylvania fugitive wanted on 865 child sex assault charges caught in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Pennsylvania fugitive wanted on 865 charges related to the sexual abuse of a 5-year-old boy has been captured in Florida, police said.

Garrick Landon Bloom, 47, of Shippenville, Pennsylvania, was taken into custody Thursday morning by U.S. marshals outside a Tallahassee homeless shelter, where he had been staying for a couple of days, The Tallahassee Democrat reported. He remained Friday in the Leon County Jail on a fugitive warrant.

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Back home in Clarion County, Bloom is charged with 216 counts of rape of a child, 216 counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, 216 counts of aggravated indecent assault of a child, 216 counts of statutory sexual assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, the Democrat said.

According to a criminal complaint obtained Monday by ExploreClarion.com, Pennsylvania State Police investigators based in Clarion were notified Oct. 25 by county child welfare officials that a young boy reported being sexually assaulted by Bloom. The boy, whose current age was not made public, told investigators he was forced to perform oral sex on Bloom on multiple occasions, the court document said.

The complaint said Bloom began to "groom" the boy when he was 5 years old, ExploreClarion.com reported. The sexual abuse is alleged to have gone on for years.

The document indicated Bloom initially denied the allegations but later admitted to the crimes, the news site said. An editor's note on ExploreClarion.com said more specific details of the alleged crimes were withheld due to their graphic nature.

Warrants were issued for his arrest Jan. 16, but he had already fled the area.

Pennsylvania law states that 648 of the charges against Bloom are first-degree felonies, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison for each count. He faces up to 10 years for each count of statutory sexual assault and up to seven years for endangering the welfare of a child.

Bloom faces more than 15,000 years in prison if convicted.

Cox Media Group