AN Irishman has been arrested in New York in connection with over 300 sex offence charges back home in Ireland.
The man, named as Raymond 'Ray' Donlon by American media, was arrested earlier this week by US Homeland Security with assistance from Guilderland Police near Albany, around 130 miles (210km) north of Manhattan.
Donlon, who left Ireland in 2013, worked at GAA grounds across the Midlands region most recently as a sports photographer and lived in Co. Longford – where the offences are alleged to have occurred over a five-year period.
He appeared before a US court on Thursday and was remanded in custody to face an extradition hearing next Friday, January 25.
According to the New York State newspaper The Daily Gazette, he is accused of the protracted sexual abuse of two children from 2004 to 2009 in a small Co. Longford community.
Donlon, age undisclosed, most recently worked as a GAA photographer across the Midlands (Image: Twitter)Among the charges are 210 counts of sexual assault and 177 counts of rape, a federal complaint filed against him revealed.
He is alleged to have coached and groomed the two victims – one from the age of 11 to 16, and the other starting at age 13.
Donlon fled to the US from Ireland soon after charges were filed against him there in 2013.
In September, Gardaí requested assistance from US Homeland Security to apprehend him.
However, Donlon was not tracked down until earlier this week at an apartment in Guilderland – near the intersection of routes 20 and 146 – having been spotted there on January 13.
US authorities believe the Irishman had lived there since April 2018.
Investigators used surveillance, utility records and postal records to verify his address.
