The capture of a Trinity County child molester earlier this month was an international effort, according to the Trinity County District Attorney’s Office. 70-year-old Eddie Monroe Van Houten of Salyer had been on the run for 12 years. He was convicted in 2004 on two counts of lewd and lascivious acts against a child under the age of 14, one of the counts involving the use of force, fear or violence. He was given a sentence of one year in jail and 8 years probation. He also had a 10 year prison sentence that was suspended on the condition that he complete the terms of his probation. He violated that probation and fled to Mexico in 2004 or 2005. After an appearance on the America’s Most Wanted T.V. show, tips were received that Van Houten was in Puerto Vallarta. He wasn’t captured then, but a few years later Trinity County D.A. investigators posted flyers and newspaper ads along Mexico’s west coast resort areas. That prompted tips that Van Houten was in Cabo San Lucas. The U.S. Marshals Office tried to find him there but he fled. Marshals eventually tracked him to Cancun and collared him, returning him to the Trinity County Jail.