US Marshals

By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice

A Pennsylvania man wanted on more than a dozen child-sex-assault charges and a New Jersey man wanted on felony drug charges were arrested together after a traffic stop in New York, the sheriff’s office announced on Thursday, Nov. 13.

Christopher Desousa, 49, of Tobyhanna, PA, was wanted out of Pennsylvania on an extensive list of felony and misdemeanor offenses — including Aggravated Indecent Assault of a Child, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, Endangering the Welfare of Children, Corruption of Minors, and Indecent Assault of a Child Under 13, according to court records.

The Pennsylvania case, filed in Monroe County on Sept. 29, lists 14 separate charges tied to an incident dated Jan. 1. Desousa was “awaiting preliminary hearing” at the time he fled the state, according to docket information.

Investigators with the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and the US Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force received information that Desousa was hiding in Plattekill. They located him on Wednesday, Nov. 12, around 10:30 a.m. and conducted a traffic stop on State Route 32 in Modena, where Desousa was taken into custody on the Pennsylvania warrant, deputies said.

A passenger in the vehicle — Andy Rodriguez, 43, of Clintondale — initially provided false identification before he was confirmed to be wanted out of New Jersey on a felony warrant for Manufacturing and Distributing Controlled and Dangerous Substances, which he had been evading since 2021, according to the release. Rodriguez was additionally charged in New York with Misdemeanor False Personation.

Both men were arraigned in Ulster County’s Centralized Arraignment Part Court and remanded to the Ulster County Jail on no bail pending extradition to Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Daily Voice has reached out to the courts for more details. Check back here for possible updates.