⏱ 2 min read
Donald Eugene Fields II, a 62-year-old former FBI Most Wanted fugitive, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex trafficking in Missouri. Fields provided sexual access to a child in exchange for cash and other items of value from his friend and co-defendant, Theodore “Ted” John Sartori Sr., beginning when the victim was 14 years old. The abuse occurred from the winter of 2013 through the summer of 2016, with Sartori engaging in illegal sexual activity with the minor and providing Fields with various forms of compensation.
Fields’ crimes were finally brought to justice after he failed to appear in Franklin County Circuit Court on pending charges in December 2022. He was arrested on January 26, 2025, after a traffic stop by police in Lady Lake, Florida, when officers learned that he was on the Most Wanted list. Fields pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in April to one count of child sex trafficking.
The victim, who was just 14 years old when the abuse began, showed remarkable courage in coming forward and helping to bring Fields to justice. U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp told Fields during the sentencing hearing that his crimes “warranted extreme punishment.” Fields’ co-defendant, Sartori, is serving a 10-year prison term after pleading guilty in August 2024 to one count of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies played a crucial role in bringing Fields to justice. “Donald Fields II believed he could outrun justice by fleeing to Florida after committing reprehensible crimes against a child in Missouri. He was wrong,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division.
📋 Key Facts
- Crime: Sex Crimes
- Defendant: Missouri
- Location: MO
- Source: DOJ Press Release
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
Sex CrimesSex CrimesSex CrimesSex Crimes