VENTURA : Former Fugitive Gets Jail in Molestation
The file on the Ventura FBI office’s oldest fugitive case has been closed, authorities said Thursday, after a Ventura County judge sentenced a 49-year-old convicted child molester who had been on the lam since 1981.
Gary Lee Hampton, who was arrested in August, was sentenced Wednesday to 11 1/2 years in prison for molesting an 8-year-old Ventura boy, Deputy Dist. Atty William G. Karr said.
Hampton’s arrest ended a federal pursuit that included hundreds of interviews, spanned three countries and consumed parts of five FBI agents’ careers--including Special Agent John Kirk, who wanted to catch Hampton before he retires next year.
“I feel that it is well-deserved,” Kirk said of the sentence. “I think justice is served now.”
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