Bend man extradited from Thailand to face child sex abuse charges

Published 11:15 am Monday, August 4, 2025

A Bend man who police say fled to Thailand ahead of his trial for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse materials and manufacturing psychedelic mushrooms has been extradited to Deschutes County.

Simon Lesley Hannes, 37, was returned to the United States by the U.S. Marshals Service on July 25 and is being held in the Deschutes County jail, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. He was arraigned July 28 and his bail was set at $1.15 million.

Hannes was first arrested in March 2024 after investigators with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children unit said they linked him to child sexual abuse images shared on the chat app Discord. Detectives also reported finding psilocybin mushrooms and firearms at his Bend home.

After additional evidence was recovered from his digital devices, a grand jury indicted Hannes later that month on multiple charges related to child exploitation.

Hannes was released from jail while awaiting trial but failed to appear for trial in April 2025. Investigators later determined he had left Oregon, traveled to Florida and then fled to Thailand, according to the sheriff’s office.

He was arrested in May with the help of the FBI, Thai authorities and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Hannes faces more than two dozen counts, including using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, encouraging child sex abuse, luring a minor, unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of psilocybin.