Jonathan Roberts, 40, ran C4 Digital Group as a partner — a growing UK PR firm with offices including one in New York. As a contractor he handled communications for London's Royal Horseguards Hotel and the global Guoman Hotels chain, and sat on Thomas Cook's Digital Advisory Board, eventually becoming the travel company's global head of social media. He was also a fugitive.
Roberts is Alan Giese — one of the FBI's ten most wanted international fugitives. Giese fled Orange County, California in 2007 while on bail for the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy. The abuse allegedly began in 1998 and continued until 2002, when charges were filed.
The Reinvention in Hampshire
Giese surfaced in England in 2009 under the Roberts identity, moving in with PR executive Linda Scott, 63, in the Hampshire village of Broughton. Using a communications degree from his university days, he rebuilt himself as a social media expert. He and Scott founded Chapel PR in June 2012 — later rebranded C4 Digital Group — and built out a client list across UK hospitality and travel.
Thomas Cook, one of the largest of those clients, told the Mirror it had no knowledge of Giese's past: "We were shocked and appalled to learn of these disturbing allegations."
Working While on Bail
The Mirror tracked Giese in July 2015 signing on at his local police station under bail conditions, then walking straight to the office to continue working. He was still at the PR agency in late September. On September 25, 2015, a C4 employee told reporters Giese had been in the office that morning: "I'm essentially trying to find out if I have a job at the moment."
Villagers in Broughton expressed shock at learning Giese's true identity. Among his community activities, he had run a Disney-themed film night at the village hall.
What He Left Behind
When Giese fled California in 2007 he left a wife and parents who had believed in him. His wife filed for divorce shortly after his disappearance. She discovered he had cleared out their bank accounts and left her responsible for heavy debt, including $52,000 in charges she had not known about.
The teenage victim, now an adult, had not seen justice at the time of writing. Giese is fighting extradition from England on the grounds that removal would violate his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. If convicted in California, he faces the prospect of civil commitment — a legal mechanism used with violent repeat sex offenders that can hold them indefinitely beyond the end of a sentence, until authorities determine the offender no longer poses a risk.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
