FBI Offers $5,000 Reward for Fugitive Wanted on Kootenai County Child Sex Charges

A Canadian sailor wanted on child sex charges out of Kootenai County has been at large since at least January 2025, and the FBI is now offering up to $5,000 for information that leads to his arrest.

Donald Steven Lang, 62, of British Columbia, Canada, was charged April 9, 2025, with three counts of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 and one count of sexual battery of a minor in Idaho's 1st Judicial District, and a warrant was issued for his arrest in Kootenai County. The charges stem from alleged offenses in Kootenai County between 2003 and 2007.

The FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office is assisting the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office in the search for Lang, who was last seen aboard his sailboat, ISHI, in Hawaii in January 2025. The FBI considers him an escape risk.

The FBI said Lang is known to sail internationally but considers Hawaii his home base, and agents believe he may currently be sailing between Hawaii and Fiji, Hawaii and Mexico, toward Papua New Guinea, or possibly Indonesia. He has ties to people in Hawaii, Idaho, Washington state, California, Fiji, the Marquesas Islands, Mexico, and Canada.

The FBI lists Lang's date of birth as September 15, 1963, and describes him as about 5-foot-8 and 210 pounds with light brown and gray hair and blue eyes. He has multiple tattoos, including a faded conch shell on his right arm with the word "captain" above it. Lang is known to sail around the world, doing odd jobs like boat repairs.

The case spans more than two decades in time. The alleged offenses occurred when Lang appears to have had connections to North Idaho, years before he established his Pacific sailing life. His 2016 Idaho driver's license photo, along with 2022 images of him aboard a boat, are part of the FBI's law enforcement poster.

Lang is wanted out of Kootenai County on a state warrant after he was indicted on three charges of lewd conduct with a minor under 16 and one count of sexual battery of a minor. The breadth of his known contacts and sailing range, spanning French Polynesia, Fiji, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia, makes this a case with international dimensions uncommon for a Kootenai County warrant.

Anyone with information on Lang's whereabouts is advised to contact their local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.