B.C. man to be extradited to U.S. on charges of sexually assaulting stepdaughter

A British Columbia man will be extradited to the United States, where he faces a possible life sentence if convicted of charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted his stepdaughter, after losing his appeal of the extradition order Tuesday.

A British Columbia man will be extradited to the United States, where he faces a possible life sentence if convicted of charges that he repeatedly sexually assaulted his stepdaughter, after losing his appeal of the extradition order Tuesday.

The accused, who is identified in court documents as J.L., has been sought by authorities in Utah for years after a warrant for his arrest was issued in June 2015.

The man is charged with continuously sexually assaulting his stepdaughter from June 2012 to June 2014, when the girl was 12 to 14 years old.

The offences are alleged to have occurred in St. George, Utah, where J.L. lived with the stepdaughter and her mother, to whom he was married at the time.

According to court documents, the stepdaughter told her mother about the alleged abuse in June 2014, but the allegations were not reported to police until the following November.

The accused left Utah the same day that the allegations were reported to police, prompting U.S. authorities to charge that he "fled" to Canada to escape repercussions, according to affidavits provided to the court.

J.L. denied that the move had anything to do with the accusations, saying he was already planning to return to Canada that day because his marriage had ended.