Florida fugitive captured in East Tennessee for child sexual abuse

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. Marshals Service said a Florida fugitive wanted for capital sexual battery on a minor was captured in White Pine.

Eleazar Briones-Vega was accused of sexually abusing a child, starting when the victim was under 10 years old. The abuse allegedly continued for about three years before being reported, after which Briones-Vega fled Florida, the U.S. Marshals said.

The Eastern Tennessee U.S. Marshals Service Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force received information from the USMS Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force that Briones-Vega might be in the area. Officials located him in White Pine and arrested him without incident, according to the U.S. Marshals.

Briones-Vega, originally from Mexico and living in the U.S. without legal permission, was booked into