Late last week the U.S Marshals Service arrested a fugitive couple convicted of child endangerment offenses in absentia earlier this month.

Members of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force arrested Christine Dunkowski, 47, and Albert Dunkowski, 54, both who were wanted for flight to avoid prosecution and default in required appearance.

The couple fled the jurisdiction while on trial for endangering the welfare of their children on October 6th.

The U.S. Marshals Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force was then asked to assist in the fugitive investigations.

On Friday, October 15th, at approximately 10:30 am, Deputy Marshals and Task Force Officers from the Delaware and Philadelphia offices apprehended Christine Dunkowski at a motel located in the 1000 block of south Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware.

Days later Deputies and task force officers from Philadelphia and the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested her husband at a bus stop in the 200 block of Belle Hill Road in Elkton, Maryland.

President Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. issued bench warrants when the couple did not show for the third day their trial earlier this month.

Bateman allowed closing arguments to continue, and jurors deliberated for about three hours before returning with guilty verdicts. .

A pediatric emergency room physician testified that the children showed signs of severe neglect and abuse and called it one of the worst cases he’s ever seen.

The doctor said all four of the children in the vehicle were suffering from severe malnutrition and were soaked in urine and wearing diapers that had not been changed in a long time, including a 9-year-old boy. One of the children, a daughter with cerebral palsy, had bed sores on her body from lying in the same place for a long time

Both arrests were made without incident. These apprehensions were a result of a joint investigation including U.S. Marshal’s Offices in Eastern Pennsylvania, the District of Delaware, the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Crimes against children loom at the forefront of human tragedy. We immensely appreciate the opportunity to support Bucks County DA Matt Weintraub and the Bucks County Detectives’ always diligent efforts to identify, capture and prosecute those that perpetrate such heinous crimes,” said Eric Gartner, of the Marshal Service.

A sentencing date has yet to be set for their original Bucks County case