Tip snares alleged child molester on FBI top 10 list

Story Highlights

• TV show says Goldberg told a counselor in Canada he was an American fugitive
• Producing child pornography, performing lewd acts on children among charges
• FBI: Goldberg earned trust of parents, who let children play, take trips with him
• Goldberg is expected to be extradited; Canada holding him on immigration charge

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A tip from a Canadian resident ended Richard Steve Goldberg's stint on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, and the alleged child molester is now awaiting extradition, the bureau said.

According to the Web site for the television show, "America's Most Wanted," Goldberg had been seeing a nonprofit counselor under the alias Terry Wayne Kearns. He allegedly told the counselor he was an American fugitive, but the charges against him were "trumped up," the Web site said.

The counselor told a friend, who found Goldberg on the FBI Web site, according to "America's Most Wanted."

The 61-year-old former engineer had been on the run for six years after he was charged in 2001 with producing child pornography, two counts of possessing child pornography and six counts of performing lewd acts on a child, the FBI said. He also faces unlawful flight charges.

Authorities in Long Beach, California, say Goldberg engaged in sexual acts with girls younger than 10 for five months in 2001. Authorities also allege they found images of the sex acts on Goldberg's computer, a federal crime.

"Goldberg gained the trust of [neighborhood] parents and then befriended their children. He entertained the girls by allowing them to play with his pets, watch television and use his computer to play games. Some of these girls also took short trips with him," according to the June 2002 FBI news release announcing Goldberg's inclusion on the most-wanted list.

The president of a gun club in Long Beach, California, Goldberg was considered armed and dangerous, according to the FBI.

Goldberg was captured in Montreal, Quebec, early Saturday after the tip from Canada, said Long Beach Police Chief Anthony Batts and J. Stephen Tidwell, assistant FBI director in Los Angeles.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Montreal Police Service arrested Goldberg without incident for violating Canadian immigration laws, the statement said.

Canadian authorities are holding Goldberg on the immigration violation. He is scheduled to be in court Monday.

Goldberg is expected to be extradited to the United States to face the California and federal charges, Tidwell and Batts said.

A reward of up to $100,000 had been offered for information leading directly to Goldberg's arrest. The FBI news release did not mention the reward.