OK Fugitive Captured In Philippines After Taunting Geary Police On Facebook

Monday, April 7th 2014, 3:57 pm

By: News 9

An international fugitive is back in Oklahoma, 12 years after he was charged with the alleged rape of a child.

Phillip Vaughn Cox, 53, is facing two counts of first degree rape with a child under 14, according to the Blaine County District Attorney's office.

Cox was originally charged with the crimes in late 2002. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but investigators say he skipped town before that could happen.

Cox went undetected for years until 2013 when he posted a comment on the Geary Police Department's Facebook page stating "I committed 2 counts of rape under 14 in your town. I know live in angeles city Philippines still getting young girls your warrant ha ha. My real Facebook is under alias Phillip Sims." His profile picture showed him with a young Filipino girl sitting on his lap.

Investigators believe by posting the picture, Cox was allegedly taunting officials about getting away with the charges.

In June of 2013, U.S. Marshals in Oklahoma worked with the USMS International Investigations Branch and USMS National Sex Offender Targeting Center to track him down. Soon after, a lead was sent to the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Authorities believe Cox had been living in the Philippines for the last 12 years and that he thought the statute of limitations would expire for his alleged crimes while he was hiding out there.

Instead, agents from the Philippines Bureau of Immigration arrested Cox on February 13 at his home north of Manila. Following his arrest, Cox was deported back to the United States.

U.S. Marshals took Cox into custody when he arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport on March 13. He arrived in Blaine County Monday to face the 2002 charges against him.