Man Once on FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives List Appears in Court in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – Donald Eugene Fields II, who was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list until his arrest on January 26 in Florida, pleaded not guilty Friday to child sex charges in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

Fields, now 60, of Franklin County, Missouri, was originally indicted on Dec. 7, 2022. He now faces a child sex trafficking charge and a charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The indictment accuses him of knowingly attempting to recruit, entice, provide, patronize and solicit a minor into engaging in a commercial sex act from about January 2013 until June 2017 and traveling to Florida in 2016 to engage in sex with a minor.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Fields was arrested during a traffic stop by police in Lady Lake, Florida after officers learned that he was on the Most Wanted list. 

“Donald Fields II will finally answer federal charges thanks to the outstanding work by the Lady Lake Police Department,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. “We applaud the bravery of the alleged victims, who showed up in court today to face the defendant for the first time since he became a federal fugitive more than two years ago. The FBI will continue to provide victim services to support their emotional journey through the legal process.”

The case was investigated jointly by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.