Gajdusek was charged with child molestation in April 1996. This was based on things in his own diary and what the victim told police. He said this was true in 1997 and was sent to jail for 12 months. After he got out of jail in 1998, he went to Europe. He never returned to the United States and lived in Amsterdam, Paris, and Tromsø. Gajdusek openly admitted molesting boys and his approval of incest.