Sex Offender Who Fled to Russia Caught by Feds at O'Hare

Chicago - Yuri Ermakov, A former downstate track coach who fled to Russia three years ago after being convicted of sexually assaulting a student was arrested by federal agents at O'Hare on Wednesday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at O’Hare arrested Ermakov, 28, on a 2007 warrant for sexual assault, according to a release from CBP. A fugitive for three years, Ermakov was a high school coach when he was convicted of a sex crime involving a student.

In July 2007, Ermakov, an assistant track coach at University High School in Champaign, was convicted of the criminal sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. He was also convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for providing alcohol to two underage girls.

While the jury was in deliberation on his court case, Ermakov fled to his native Russia, the release said.

But on Wednesday, CBP officers apprehended Ermakov when he arrived on a flight from France, the release said. He was turned over to the FBI and University of Illinois police in Champaign.