Ex-choirmaster accused of posing as member of US elite military unit Delta Force to groom boy in California loses fight against extradition

  • Roger Giese claimed his extradition to America was against his human rights
  • He is wanted for 'lewd acts' against a 13-year-old boy between 1998 and 2002
  • Giese's lawyers said if convicted, he would suffer violence at hands of prisoners

Roger Giese, 42, (pictured in 1998) has been on the run since 2007 for allegedly committing ‘lewd acts’ with a child in California between 1998 and 2002 and will be sent back to the US after his arrest in a Hampshire village in 2014

Roger Giese, 42, (pictured in 1998) has been on the run since 2007 for allegedly committing ‘lewd acts’ with a child in California between 1998 and 2002 and will be sent back to the US after his arrest in a Hampshire village in 2014

A former choirmaster accused of historic child sex offences is to be deported to the US after losing his High Court battle.

Roger Giese, who is in his forties and was born in America, fought a human rights battle in the High Court after his extradition was ordered last year. 

He was put on the FBI’s most wanted list after disappearing ahead of his 2007 trial for 19 counts of committing ‘lewd acts’ with a 13-year-old boy with a foreign object. The alleged offences date between 1998 and 2002.

Giese challenged his extradition at a hearing in London in May, with his lawyers claiming there was an 'abuse of process' following an earlier failed attempt to extradite him.

The lawyers claimed if convicted, he would suffer violence at the hands of other prisoners and would be subject to a 'civil commitment' at the end of his prison term, which they said would breach his human rights.

His appeal was rejected by two senior judges, who ruled the second set of extradition proceedings did not amount to an abuse of process.

Lord Burnett, the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with Mr Justice Dingemans, said: 'The underlying consideration is the strong public interest in upholding our international obligations and delivering for trial those accused of serious criminal wrongdoing.

'A strong feature of this case is that the appellant is a classic fugitive from justice - he broke his bail conditions and fled the jurisdiction.

In Orange County, California, Giese is wanted for trial on 19 counts of allegedly committing ‘lewd acts’ with a child (pictured: The FBI's appeal to find Giese who fled to the UK shortly before his trial)

In Orange County, California, Giese is wanted for trial on 19 counts of allegedly committing ‘lewd acts’ with a child (pictured: The FBI's appeal to find Giese who fled to the UK shortly before his trial)

Giese, bottom left, appears on this FBI list of fugitives wanted by Interpol from July 2010

Giese, bottom left, appears on this FBI list of fugitives wanted by Interpol from July 2010

'The offences for which he is wanted are serious.'

Lawyers say the case has a lengthy history and High Court judges have previously blocked extradition on human rights grounds. 

In August 2017, a judge ruled Giese, who had lived near Southampton, could be extradited back to the US. The Home Office finally ordered his extradition in October last year.  

Giese worked as a voice coach for the All-American Boys Chorus based in Costa Mesa, California, at the time of the allegations.

According to charges he posed as a member of elite US military unit ‘Delta Force’ as he groomed the child for several months.

He then told the boy he could earn a place in the unit ‘by providing semen, urine, blood, and stool samples’, it is claimed.

The suspect is thought to have travelled through the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Norway before arriving in the UK and setting up PR company C4 Digital Group, which served clients including Thomas Cook.

Lawyers say the case has a lengthy history and High Court judges have previously blocked extradition on human rights grounds

Lawyers say the case has a lengthy history and High Court judges have previously blocked extradition on human rights grounds