Interpol launches global hunt for Internet pedophile 08/10/2007 00:00

8 October 2007

LYON (AFP) - Interpol on Monday launched an unprecedented worldwide hunt for a man who it said had posted pictures on the Internet of himself raping young boys in Vietnam or Cambodia.

The International Criminal Police Organisation, based in Lyon, France, issued a global request for assistance on its website along with a picture of the wanted suspect recovered from one of his own images.

"For years, images of this man sexually abusing children have been circulating on the Internet," Interpol chief Ronald Noble said in a statement.

"We have tried all other means to identify and to bring him to justice, but we are now convinced that without the public's help this sexual predator could continue to rape and sexually abuse young children whose ages appear to range from six to early teens."

This was "the first time the organisation has made such an appeal," Interpol stressed.

A special crimes unit in Germany managed to produce the picture of the man from one of his photos that had been altered on the web. The original had been digitally 'swirled' to disguise his face.

The recovered picture shows a white man in his 30s or early 40s, shaven, with receding dark hair.

His identity and nationality remain unknown despite efforts by 186 Interpol offices and specialist units.

According to the police organisation, some 200 photos have been circulating of the man assaulting 12 different young boys. They appeared to have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia, two countries that have gained reputations as destinations for sex tourism.

Noble said "we have very good reason to believe that he travels the world in order to sexually abuse and exploit vulnerable children."

Kristin Kvigne, the assistant director of Interpol's Trafficking in Human Beings Unit, said: "We are certainly not encouraging members of the public to take any direct action themselves, particularly since any positive identification would need to be confirmed by law enforcement authorities."

But she urged anyone who recognised the man to contact police or Interpol representatives in their country.

The appeal and photographs of the man were on www.interpol.int

AFP

Subject: French news