WNY sex abuse fugitive found in Arizona

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The law has finally caught up with a convicted child molester and his missing wife who have been on the run for quite some time.

Solid leads and good old-fashioned investigative work helped the U.S. Marshals track Paul Turley down in Arizona.

They say his wife who has been missing for a month was with him helping him runaway.

Late Friday afternoon, U.S. Marshals found Paul Turley and Diane Turley at a mobile home in Tucson, Arizona.

Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour said, "Without [the U.S. Marshals'] help, I would have to say that there's not a chance that we would've picked this gentleman up so quickly.

Related | The 47-year-old convicted child molester skipped town on January 23, in the middle of his trial for sexually abusing two children, from 1996 to 1998.

Jurors found him guilty, even though he was not in the courtroom.

"He panicked, I suspect. I also suspect he knew he was guilty," said Niagara County District Attorney Michael Violante.

Over the last month, a fugitive task force made up of Niagara County Sheriff's Deputies and U.S. Marshals had been tracking Turley and his wife's every move.

U.S. Marshal Charles Salina said they had been tracking him from the states of Wisconsin, New Mexico, Michigan, and Arizona. 

Investigators missed the Turley's once, by a few days, in Wisconsin.

But that was not the case in Arizona, where the couple was staying with an acquaintance and former Western New Yorker.

"The Marshals in Tucson did an outstanding job. They set up a surveillance on the mobile home and observed him smoking a cigarette; they made entry and took him into custody," Salina said.

Both Paul and his wife were arraigned Friday night in Arizona; Paul for absconding and Diane for helping her husband run from the law.

Attorney Violante said, "She will be indicted for hindering prosecution, which is a felony. She will either plead [guilty] to that charge, or go to trial on that charge. She will not be offered any plea bargain."

Both Paul and Diane Turley will be brought back to Niagara County. The DA hasn't decided yet whether to charge Turley with jumping bail.

He will be sentenced on his child molestation conviction April 19.