FBI searching for child molester who fled sentencing in San Luis Obispo in 2003

More than two decades after walking free from a San Luis Obispo courthouse and never looking back, a convicted child molester remains at large — and the FBI wants the public's help ending his run. The bureau is renewing its appeal for information on Erik Kristian Moller, now 59, who skipped his sentencing hearing in March 2003 and has not been seen since, according to CalCoastNews and the FBI's own wanted listing.

A Years-Long Pattern of Abuse

According to the FBI, the crimes that brought Moller before a San Luis Obispo jury spanned three years and targeted a single, vulnerable victim. Between 1997 and 2000, Moller — then in his early-to-mid thirties — was entrusted to care for a girl on an almost weekly basis while she was between the ages of 10 and 14. Investigators say he gave the girl drugs and/or alcohol before molesting her throughout that period.

A San Luis Obispo Superior Court jury convicted Moller on December 18, 2002, on two counts of lewd act upon a child, according to the FBI's wanted notice. He was released on bail while awaiting sentencing — a decision that would ultimately allow him to disappear without a trace.

The Day He Didn't Show Up

On March 18, 2003, Moller was due in a San Luis Obispo courtroom to receive his sentence. He never appeared. The following day, a felony bench warrant was issued after he was charged with failure to appear, the FBI confirmed. Because Moller could not be located, the Superior Court proceeded to sentence him in absentia to 10 years in state prison — a step California courts are permitted to take when a convicted defendant voluntarily fails to appear, as Hoodline reported.

The case quickly escalated beyond state jurisdiction. On April 24, 2003 — barely five weeks after the missed sentencing — the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California charged Moller federally with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and a federal arrest warrant was issued, according to both the FBI's records and GV Wire. That federal charge handed the FBI authority to pursue Moller anywhere in the world and placed the case with the bureau's Los Angeles field office, which has continued to publicize it in periodic "Fugitive Friday" social media campaigns over the years.

Where Investigators Think He May Have Gone

The FBI's wanted profile offers a handful of investigative leads that have guided the search — and suggest Moller may have planned his flight in advance. Authorities say he may have traveled from Miami, Florida, to Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic, in 2003, shortly after vanishing from San Luis Obispo. He is also known to have ties to Denmark, according to the FBI's wanted sheet. Prior to his arrest and conviction, Moller worked in the aviation fuel business — an occupation that may have given him access to travel networks and international contacts, GV Wire noted.

Moller is described as a white male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing around 140 pounds, with blond/brown hair and blue eyes. He has a 3-inch birthmark on his lower back, a tattoo of a falling angel on one upper arm, a tattoo of a Native American on horseback on the other upper arm, and a scar on his upper left arm, according to the FBI. He was born June 24, 1967, in Arcadia, California, and would now be 59 years old.

A Recurring Appeal — And a Broader Pattern

This is not the first time the FBI has amplified the Moller case publicly. The FBI Los Angeles office posted about him on social media as far back as June 2023, and CalCoastNews covered the renewed appeal in August 2025 as well. The case has been a fixture on the FBI's Crimes Against Children Most Wanted list for years, a roster that Law Officer described as including teachers, pastors, and professionals who sexually exploited children before fleeing accountability.

The Moller case is a stark reminder that the problem of convicted offenders skipping sentencing is not unique to SLO. Earlier this year, in a comparable California case, the FBI Sacramento field office announced the capture of Carl Cacconie, a convicted child molester who fled before his August 2025 sentencing and was apprehended in Scottsdale, Arizona, after nearly 10 months on the run — a resolution that advocates hope could eventually come in the Moller case as well.

How SLO Residents Can Help

The FBI is directly asking the public — including anyone in the Central Coast community who may have known Moller, or who has come across information about his whereabouts in the more than two decades since he fled — to come forward. Tips can be submitted in the following ways:

• Call: 1 (800) CALL-FBI
• Online: tips.fbi.gov
• International: Contact the nearest American embassy or consulate
• FBI Los Angeles direct line: (310) 477-6565

The victim in this case was a child who trusted someone placed in her life as a caregiver. For San Luis Obispo residents, this case is a local one — it was prosecuted in the SLO Superior Court, the warrant was issued here, and the community's awareness could be the factor that finally brings a 23-year fugitive to justice.