An American man suspected of being a pedophile was deported Thursday from Canada to the U.S., where he is wanted for allegedly engaging in sex acts with a number of young girls.

Agents of the Canada Border Services Agency drove Richard Goldberg from Montreal to the Quebec-New York border on Thursday morning. He was then handed over to U.S. authorities.

An Immigration and Refugee Board official issued a deportation order for Goldberg earlier this month.

Goldberg, 61, fled to Canada in July 2001 after he was accused of engaging in sex acts with young girls.

The former engineer allegedly allowed girls to play with his pets, watch television and use his computer to play games at his house in Long Beach, Calif. He was considered a neighbourhood babysitter and allegedly kept ducks and bunnies.

Goldberg, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., was one of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's 10 most wanted fugitives.

On its website, the FBI says he is wanted for allegedly engaging in sex acts with several girls under the age of 10 in Long Beach from January through May of 2001. He also allegedly produced images of these sex acts, which were later found on his computer.

The FBI says he is wanted for sexual exploitation of children, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, two counts of possession of child pornography and six counts of lewd acts upon a child.

While he was a fugitive, the FBI had said he was considered armed and dangerous. He was once the president of a gun club in Long Beach.

Goldberg was arrested in Montreal on May 12. He is expected to be returned to California.

With files from the Canadian Press