This is a rush transcript from “On the Record ,” December 16, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Dog the Bounty Hunter is here to go “On the Record.” Dog is tracking down several fugitives right now. One of them is a convicted rapist of a 13-year-old boy who fled Hawaii before the prison doors could slam shut on him.
The rapist was set to begin a 10-year prison sentence on December 1, but instead he took off. Duane Dog Chapman from A&E’s “Dog the Bounty Hunter” is here. Nice to see you, Dog.
DUANE “DOG” CHAPMAN, BOUNTY HUNTER: Nice to see you, Greta. How are you?
VAN SUSTEREN: I’m very well. Dog, before we get into this–the guy only got 10 years for a rape of a 13-year-old boy?
CHAPMAN: Yes. He plea-bargained out on a 10-year sentence. And I believe the reason was because they didn’t want to have the victim go through the court hearings. So he pled to sexual assault on a child and received a 10-year sentence.
He was supposed to show up to begin the sentence, and took off.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. What’s his name, where is he, and what are you doing about it?
CHAPMAN: OK, Greta, his name is Frank LeFrandt. He’s also before used the alias Cornelius(ph). He flew at the end of last month from Hawaii to California, from California to Tucson, where he rented this jeep, a jeep Commander. Here’s the plate number–ACE7097.
He then used his credit card in Santa Ana, Mexico. He told the border patrol that he was going on vacation as he crossed the border from California. He said he was going on vacation to Santa Ana and traveling through Mexico.
He is a 6’1″ male. He’s 215 pounds. Now just before he left, his wife noticed that he grew a beard and dyed it. So he could have a beard.
He has been a Mormon for 20, 25 years, and when he was on his journey as a Mormon, did he that in Santa Ana and in El Salvador. So that’s the connections he had down there.
The new bail for him right now in Hawaii is $5 million. So this guy is going away for a long time.
And, as you know, we cannot go down in Mexico and apprehend him as an American citizen. So I’m working very close with the United States Marshals out of Hawaii, and they’ve asked me to give their number–541- 3,000; again, 541-3000, with the area code of 808.
If anyone has any kind of clue, then we can grab this guy right away.
VAN SUSTEREN: Is Mexico helping?
CHAPMAN: You know, Mexico is helping a lot. As you noticed lately, they’ve extradited a lot of cop killers and sexual assault-convicted felons back to America. So we’ve got this open line with Mexico and, yes, they are helping very much this time.
VAN SUSTEREN: Does he have access to any money?
Watch Greta’s interview with Duane “Dog” Chapman
CHAPMAN: You know, he doesn’t have a lot of money, but he’s hitting – - he had a credit card, closed it. Then he opened another credit card. He hit an ATM machine in Santa Ana. That’s how we tracked him. So I don’t think so.
But he’s a teacher, and he teaches kids a lot of languages. He speaks five fluent languages, one of them being Spanish. So I would think he’d be back in that kind of church atmosphere, and, of course, where children are, and down in Mexico right now.
VAN SUSTEREN: You’re also working on a lot of other cases, but one is Felix Batista. What is that case?
CHAPMAN: Felix Batista was kidnapped from Mexico last Wednesday. And we’ve been asked by the company he worked not to say too much about it, so I’m going to respect that. But, yes, he’s a kidnap victim out of Mexico, an American.
VAN SUSTEREN: What — I understand that A&E has signed season six of your show.
CHAPMAN: Oh, thank you, Greta. Yes, we just got done filming season five, and thank god we’re headed for season six. And we probably will premier season six with Mr. La Frant(ph), his capture.
VAN SUSTEREN: I hope you’re not being optimistic.
CHAPMAN: Well, I’m always optimistic, but you and I both know he’s going to go down.
VAN SUSTEREN: And, in terms of season six, any other good investigations you can tip us off to so we sort of have the tease?
CHAPMAN: You know, we’re kind of like doing group arrests right now. It seems like the last four or five fugitives we’ve arrested, he’s had two buddies that are always wanted.
So now as we go through the door, we used to just get one, and now we’re getting two and three at a time. So season six has upped itself without us having to create anything. Birds of a feather flock together.
So as long as they stay in a group–big ones come in pairs, and little one come in bunches. So hopefully we’ll have a bunch of them for season six.
VAN SUSTEREN: Do you love your work, Dog?
CHAPMAN: Oh, Greta, I love this work, especially when you capture the guy. I wear shade as lot because I cry, and every time I capture them I get goose bumps all over, and I get teary-eyed. I love what I do. I love to capture the guy. I love to tell the victim “Don’t worry anymore. They’re in jail.”
And this is my way to heaven. This is my way to contribute to America what I know how to do best, and that’s chase down the predator.
VAN SUSTEREN: People oftentimes forget the victim. the person sitting at home, whether it’s a child rape case or a family of a murder victim. It’s important to talk to the families, isn’t it?
CHAPMAN: Well, it’s important to capture these guys, because this guy, again, was convicted of sexual assault to a 13-year-old child. So you know that little boy is scared to death right now while this predator is running around. So the first one I’m going to call after we capture the guy is him.
But the victims never get really vindicated. But the only thing they can do is see that the predator or the perp is in jail, and that helps them out a lot.
VAN SUSTEREN: And I bet the judge who gave him bond is probably not very happy right now because he ran off on his sentence.
CHAPMAN: Well, it just so happens to be it’s one of my favorite judges. And when he heard that he had ran off, you can see the bond. It’s probably one of the highest bonds in the country. It’s now set at $5 million bail. So, yes, the judge is very upset.
VAN SUSTEREN: Dog, thank you, and say hi to Beth for me, your wife.
CHAPMAN: Thank you, ma’am, I will. Aloha to your family and to Fox. And happy holidays, too, from Hawaii, the land of Obama.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, Dog
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