U.S. authorities say a dual Canadian-American yachtsman who sails around the world has been arrested in Canada following his indictment in Hawaii for the alleged sexual exploitation of a child.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice says 62-year-old Donald Steven Lang allegedly produced sexually explicit images of a minor between September and December 2024 aboard his sailboat that has frequently harboured in Hawaii.
The indictment was filed in U.S. district court in Honolulu on Aug. 20 and Lang was arrested over the weekend, though the department doesn’t say exactly where.
But it says his arrest was the result of co-operation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the RCMP, including front line officers in Tofino, B.C., the detachment in Nanaimo and the emergency response team on Vancouver Island.
RCMP representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The indictment alleges Lang coerced a minor into engaging in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images for transmission, following separate charges last year alleging child sexual abuse in Idaho between 2003 and 2007.
A wanted poster for Lang says he was charged with three counts of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 and one count of sexual battery of a minor in Idaho in April 2025, and that Lang was seen last on his boat in Hawaii the previous January.
U.S. authorities would seek the forfeiture of Lang’s 16-metre sailboat, the Ishi, and any devices containing child pornography images, including a Samsung phone, should he be convicted, the indictment says.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2026.
The Canadian Press
