Cuenca expat is extradited to the U.S. to face 126 sexual assault charges

A suspect who fled to Cuenca after he was arrested for sexual assault in the U.S. state of  Colorado in 2016 was extradited back to the U.S. by the FBI last week.

Peter Robert Dettmer

Although Peter Robert Dettmer was arrested in April, legal challenges by his lawyers and negotiations between Ecuadorian and U.S. law enforcement officials delayed his extradition until last Wednesday.

Ecuador National Police arrested Dettmer April 26 for a series of sexual assaults in the U.S. state of Colorado, including the rape of a women he allegedly drugged. The subject of an outstanding Interpol “red alert,” Dettmer was picked up at his apartment in the Riverside Condominium building on Av. Ordóñez Lasso.

According to police, Dettmer is charged with at least nine assaults in Jefferson County, Colorado between July 2015 and June 2016 and for using drugs to incapacitate his victims. He is also charged with photographing his victims while they were drugged. One of his victims was Dettmer’s business partner, according to arrest documents.

Following his arrest, additional charges were filed in Colorado and, at last count, he was wanted for 126 sexual assaults

Dettmer was arrainged in June 2016 in a Colorado court but fled the U.S. shortly afterward. According to his neighbors and acquaintances, he led a quiet life in Cuenca, occasionally socializing with friends and visiting a nearby bar. Since his April arrest, he has been held in a Quito jail while deportation arrangements were negotiated.