Canadian man with history of child sex crimes entered US illegally after sparking amber alert, police say

A Canadian man with a history of sexual crimes against children is accused of driving through a barbed wire fence to cross the U.S. border with two children and their mother illegally.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Benjamin Martin Moore and his common-law spouse, crossed the US-Canadian border near the Turner Port of Entry. 

Havre Border Patrol Station agents detected a cut fence while patrolling along the international boundary, CBP said Thursday. 

Agents called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the agencies identified Moore, a Canadian man with a history of sexual assault and child pornography, as the alleged border jumper.

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Canadian authorities executed an arrest warrant for Moore on Friday in connection with an investigation but found the residence where he lived with the two children and their mother empty – prompting an amber alert.  

The investigation eventually led authorities to a campground at Sturgis, South Dakota, where they arrested Moore and his common-law spouse. 

Child welfare agencies from South Dakota and Saskatchewan, Canada, are working together to return the children. 

“There was most definitely a collective sigh of relief amongst all agencies involved in bringing these two young children to safety,” Chief Superintendent Tyler Bates, officer in charge of the Saskatchewan RCMP’s South District, said in a statement. “Obviously, there is a long road ahead a number of investigative avenues that need to be followed up on.” 

Moore and his common-law spouse are currently in custody in the Pennington County Jail on hold for Immigration Customs Enforcement.