American fugitive lived openly in China, visited by wife

SUZHOU, China -- An American fugitive accused of raping his daughter and posting videos of the abuse on the Internet lived openly in China, even enjoying visits from his new wife and registering at a local fitness club under his own name.

U.S. court documents show that Kenneth John Freeman's wife, Maleka May, visited him in China more than once during his time as a fugitive. May, who reportedly married him nine months before he was charged and is thought to have posted the bail that allowed him to flee, was detained in San Francisco on Thursday as she got off a plane from China.

Information provided Saturday by the Powerhouse Gym also provided some clues about the months Freeman lived in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou.

Freeman, one of America's 15 most wanted men, was captured Tuesday after more than a year on the run while trying to enter Hong Kong from China using his own passport.

Staff at the Powerhouse Gym in Suzhou recognized Freeman immediately from his photo posted on the Department of Justice Web site. Gym computer records showed he registered under the name John Freeman and listed a Suzhou mobile phone number as a contact. Calls to the number were answered by a message that said the phone was turned off.

Freeman had been living in Seattle when he fled the United States last year, months after his 17-year-old daughter told her mother he had assaulted her four years earlier. Video of the abuse is among the most widely downloaded child pornography videos in recent years.

Freeman has been charged in Washington state with three counts of rape of a child and jumping bail. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. He also faces federal charges of producing and distributing child pornography.