Dual Canadian-American yachtsman arrested in B.C. on Hawaii child exploitation charges

Donald Steven Lang, 62, was arrested in Canada after a Hawaii indictment alleged he produced child sexual abuse material aboard his sailboat. FBI and RCMP cooperated in the arrest.

Dual Canadian-American yachtsman arrested in B.C. on Hawaii child exploitation charges

Yachtsman seized in British Columbia after Hawaii indictment for child exploitation

Google News CA — Crime (EN) reports that U.S. authorities have arrested a 62-year-old dual Canadian-American yachtsman in Canada following his indictment in Hawaii on charges of child sexual exploitation.

A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice identifies the suspect as Donald Steven Lang, who allegedly produced sexually explicit images of a minor between September and December 2024 aboard his sailboat, a vessel that has frequently been harboured in Hawaii.

The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu on Aug. 20. Lang was taken into custody over the weekend, though the department did not specify the exact location of his arrest.

The arrest resulted from co-operation between the FBI and the RCMP, the statement says, including front-line officers in Tofino, B.C., the detachment in Nanaimo, and the emergency response team on Vancouver Island. RCMP representatives had not responded to a request for comment by Tuesday.

The Hawaii indictment alleges Lang coerced a minor into sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images for transmission. Those allegations come on top of separate charges filed in Idaho last year, which accused Lang of child sexual abuse between 2003 and 2007.

A wanted poster for Lang states he was charged in April 2025 with three counts of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 and one count of sexual battery of a minor in Idaho. He was last seen on his boat in Hawaii in January of that year.

Should Lang be convicted, U.S. authorities would seek forfeiture of his 16-metre sailboat, the Ishi, as well as any devices found to contain child sexual abuse material, including a Samsung phone, according to the indictment.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)