Ex-Teacher Replaces Osama BL On FBI's 10 Most WANTED
When the FBI announced in April that Eric Justin Toth, a private school teacher wanted on child pornography charges, had made it onto its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, the world collectively asked “who.” After all, the 30-year-old Washington, D.C. teacher replaced one of the most hated men in recent history, Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs last May. So why did the bureau take more than a year to replace bin Laden’s entry on the list with Toth? And why him? The New No. 1 Toth, who is wanted for allegedly producing and possessing child pornography, made the cut because he fits the criteria used by the FBI for adding fugitives to its list. For one, the bureau believes Toth is a danger to the public. As well, it hopes the additional publicity of putting him on the list will lead to his arrest, says Jacqueline Maguire, an FBI supervisory special agent. “He is known to get in good with parents and therefore get in good with children … he’s put in situations where he’s alone with children. Our fear is that he could still be in contact with children.” Toth, also known by the alias David Bussone, is the 495th person to be placed on the list in its 62 years. The investigation into him began in June 2008, when pornographic images and videos were found on his school camera. He was charged but immediately fled the D.C. area. Toth was last seen in Phoenix in August 2009. “Since then nothing,” Maguire says. Replacing Bin Laden When looking for new members of the Top 10 list, the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division canvasses its 56 field offices throughout the U.S., asking for possible candidates. Nominees are reviewed by the division and the agency’s public affairs, which manages the list, before a shortlist is forwarded to management for final approval. Maguire says the FBI wrestled with the idea of having Toth replace bin Laden. While Toth is different than bin Laden, the two share qualities in what the agency looks for when adding members. Bin Laden was put on the list in 1999 when he was indicted for his involvement in the East Africa embassy bombings. “When he was put on the list he wasn’t a household name. The same thing applied: that we believed he was a danger and that we hoped the additional publicity helped catch him,” Maguire says. “He went on to create his own publicity.” The FBI are currently looking for another fugitive to round out of the list after James “Whitey” Bulger was removed following his arrest last June. The Boston mobster, who eluded capture for 16 years, was No. 2 on the list behind bin Laden. Since 1950, 465 fugitives named on the list have been captured, 153 of them with help from the public. As in other most-wanted cases, the FBI offers a $100,000 reward for any information leading to Toth’s arrest. ‘Toughest guys’ In 1948, James Donovan, a reporter with the Washington Daily News, asked the FBI for a list of the “toughest guys,” which he then ran in the paper. The list proved successful, and in the next year the FBI began the annual tradition, filling it with bank robbers, serial killers and sexual predators. The first fugitive to make the Top 10 was notorious bank robber Thomas J. Holden in 1950. He was nabbed a year later. As crime has evolved, so has the list, Maguire says. By the rebellious 1960s, it added those wanted for kidnappings and destruction of government property. The late 1970s and early 1980s brought organized crime figures; the 1980s and 1990s saw serial killers and drug crime fugitives make the list. “In the late 1990s and into the 2000s, with bin Laden’s addition, for example, you saw more of an international aspect of the crimes and international terrorism,” Maguire says. These days along with traditional violent crime fugitives, those wanted for cyber crimes, international drug trafficking and money laundering schemes are regulars on the list. “Our mission now is so much more international,” Maguire says. “Cyber crimes are one of our top priorities these days, and (Toth’s) addition to the list reflects that.”
This fugitive could be in your community - please take a close look at picture and post in your office or coffee shop. This criminal produced child pornography and escaped custody. He could be hiding in plain sight.
former teacher replaces Osama Bin Laden on FBI's most wanted list
This fugitive who produced child pornography could be hiding in plain sight. Please post this in your office and coffee shop and forward this buzzfeed to all of you contacts.
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