Authorities file indictment against pedophile

Federal authorities in Florida on Friday indicted a convicted pedophile who molested three girls in Costa Mesa in the 1970s for allegedly taking a minor across state lines to have sex with her.

George Joseph England, 65, transported a girl into Florida’s Broward County in the winter of 1977 “to give herself up to debauchery and to engage in other immoral practice,” a federal crime, according to the federal indictment filed in Miami.

The girl, Jackie Zudis, had been living with England since she was 5 years old. She told the FBI in Florida earlier this month that he had bought her in Vietnam from her mother and sexually abused her until she was 16.

England was convicted in 1977 of molesting three of Zudis’ friends when they lived in Costa Mesa.

Zudis is married and living in Florida.

England was never prosecuted for allegedly molesting Zudis because she didn’t come forward about the abuse until she was an adult and the statute of limitations had passed.

The latest charges against England are not subject to a statute of limitations because when England moved to Florida, he was a fugitive from California.

England fled with Zudis after his 1977 conviction but before his sentencing.

He was caught in 2005 and sentenced in 2006.

He was scheduled to be paroled a few weeks ago when the FBI came forward with the charges, ensuring he wouldn’t be released.

England is also being indicted on child pornography charges stemming from his 2005 arrest.

When he was incarcerated, his belongings were discovered in storage in Miami and authorities searched his computer, finding the pornography, according to court documents.