Suspect in sex-with-minor, child pornography case, caught in Florida
Photo: Michael Patrick Manning
CHICO – In a story full of intrigue, a man who fled after pleading no contest in 2015 to having sex with a minor girl in 2008 and 2009 was finally rearrested in 2019.
58-year-old Michael Patrick Manning allegedly continuously assaulted the girl when she was twelve to fourteen years old. In September of 2015 he was booked on four counts of oral copulation with a minor, and he posted bail and was released.
Manning in 2015
Then, that same month, detective arrested Manning for possessing and manufacturing child pornography. Again, he posted bail and was released.
Finally, on September 6, 2016, one year later, Manning was to be sentenced for his crimes after he pled no contest to them. This time, he failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
On October 7, a rental car leased to Manning was found near the Golden Gate Bridge. The car contained a suicide note written by Manning. His body was never recovered, and it turns out there is a reason for that.
Investigators continued on the case, monitoring “the behavior and patterns of a close associate of Manning.” The investigation broadened out from the Butte County area.
In April of this year “agents with the U.S. Marshall’s Service developed leads possibly linking Manning’s location to Florida.”
On May 3, 2019, in Key Wet, Florida, deputies responded to an alarm at a business on the Stock Island Marina. A man living on the property identified himself as William Wallace Littlejohn. He even had a passport and a US Navy ID card with those names on them.
After determining that these documents were fraudulent, the suspect was arrested and, after fingerprint analysis, was positively identified as Michael Manning, who now awaits a face-the-music trip to California.
