Thread: Cambodia : US agents tracking down sex tourists

The US agents tracking down sex tourists in Cambodia
David Henshaw
30 January 2011


US agents rely on locals to provide information about suspect Americans

As part of an initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas, special US agents operating in South East Asia have brought more than 80 alleged child sex tourists back to America to face justice.

Sihanoukville looks like paradise, or at least a decent, low-rent version. Golden beaches, swaying palm trees, cheap alcohol and shimmering sea.

Retired American pharmacist Ronald Adams had come here for the good life - setting up a beachside cafe. But one morning last February Adams' personal vision of paradise was shattered, when officers from the Cambodian National Police raided his apartment.

They found a collection of sex aids, child pornography on DVDs and a variety of illegal drugs. Adams was accused of drugging and raping a 12-year-old girl.

Under the radar

For Westerners arrested on child sex charges in South East Asia, things do not always turn out too badly. Gary Glitter got a two-and-a-half-year sentence in Vietnam for obscene acts with girls aged 10 and 12.

These are poor countries, where $100 can buy your freedom. But Ronald Adams had more to reckon with than the local police. An agent from America's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) was part of the group carrying out the raid.

If Americans are coming here to do this against the Cambodians... it's our responsibility to bring that person to justice”

Special agent Chris Materelli

If a US citizen is caught abusing children abroad, American agents are now on hand with the specific aim of getting the suspect on a plane to stand trial back in the US.

ICE is part of the Department of Homeland Security, based in Washington, with a severe, Brooks Brothers-suited lawyer, John Morton, as its director.

"Don't think that simply by buying a plane ticket to leave the United States and going to a country with less robust investigative and prosecutorial capacities that you are going to be able to get away with it again," Morton said.

"Perfect example - the three gentlemen we brought back from Cambodia."

The "three gentlemen" were given the moniker Twisted Travellers by ICE in a heavily publicised and deliberately humiliating extradition from Cambodia 18 months ago.

All three had previous convictions for abusing small children in the US. The oldest, 75-year-old former marine Jack Sporich, now faces a sentence of 15 years for sexually abusing a number of young boys.

Cambodia's jails are full of foreign paedophiles, but for most of them a short sentence is all they have to worry about. But even that can be avoided if you have the money to pay off the police and the judge.


Agent Vansak Suos was once a conscripted boy soldier in Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army

America was the first country to be positively pro-active about arresting and returning their child abusers to face justice. It has been joined in the past 12 months by Australia and Canada.

For US special agent Chris Materelli, it is as much about moral responsibility as law enforcement.

"If Americans are coming here to do this against the Cambodians, it's our job to try to help the Cambodians clean it up," he says. "They're our citizens, it's our responsibility to bring that person to justice."

In the seven years since the Protect Act was passed, America has brought back 85 child sex tourists to face justice in the US.

But none of this would work without a ground-breaking change in the way US agents work - not just with local police, but NGOs run by ordinary citizens.

In the tourist hot-spots of Cambodia, Action Pour Les Enfants (Action For Children, APLE) acts as the eyes and the ears of ICE in keeping surveillance on suspect Americans.

That's a common defence - that these kids are older than what they appear to be because they're Asian”

Gary Philips ICE agent

Young men on motorbikes patrol the streets with video cameras supplied by the Americans. It was an APLE undercover team that came across Ronald Adams openly asking for sex with underage girls, "the younger the better".

This kind of co-operation with ordinary locals represents a massive change of attitude, almost unthinkable 30 years ago in the wake of America's bombing of Cambodia.

Cambodians are welcome within the ranks of ICE agents. Vansak Suos, once a conscripted boy soldier in Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army, now occupies an office in the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, with a photo of himself and Bill Clinton on his desk.

Vansak's story is bleak, his brother, two sisters, and grandfather were all killed in the time of Pol Pot. He, himself, barely survived, but having done so was determined to use his life to protect other children.

Big catch

Forty-five-year-old millionaire from Florida, Kent Frank, is probably ICE's biggest catch so far. He is a serial global child sex tourist, who was caught abusing four underage girls in his hotel room in Phnom Penh.

Vansak describes how Frank tried to bribe the local police chief.


Police interview a 10-year-old sex abuse victim in Phnom Penh

"Kent Frank just stood up and put his hand in his pocket. Then, shaking the hand with the boss. And the boss just found $100 in his hand," he says.

Frank admitted to having sex and taking photos of the girls he had been with, saying that he believed they were all over 18.

"That's a common defence, that these kids are older than what they appear to be because they're Asian," says ICE agent Gary Philips. "And if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that, I'd probably be a millionaire."

Frank tried to delete the incriminating photos on his digital camera, but at ICE's state-of-the-art cyber forensics lab back in the US, 1,600 deleted pictures were recovered. Frank is currently serving a 40-year sentence in a federal jail.

But it doesn't always end that way. After seven months on remand in a Cambodian prison, Ronald Adams was released without charge. The court decided that because his alleged victim says she was drugged, her evidence could not be relied on. He has since disappeared.

Vansak shrugs and moves on. He is, he says, proud of what he has done. Every sex offender convicted means that many more children are now safe.

This World: The Paedophile Hunters will be broadcast on BBC Two at 2200 GMT on Sunday 30 January, or catch up on BBC iPlayer.

bbc.co.uk

Mania is a psychiatric illness characterized by behaviors that resemble my Government.

^Do you ever give your hatred a day off, Bob? Only you could turn the arrests of sexual predators into an anti-USG posting. I, for one, applaud any/all efforts to get American pedophiles off the streets of whatever country they are preying on children in, and putting them behind bars for many years. These are not gullible tourists who have been entrapped by do-gooder NGO's, these are hard core sexual predators.

If I really though that was all they were going to do, I would fully support it, but I doubt that very much. Since when does Government do only what they say they will do once you open the door to them? Would you would really like to be walking into a bar or a motel with an adult woman and be harassed by one of these goons? Do you really doubt they will be doing that and more?

^Yes. I very much doubt it. They are going after known sexual predators with records, and in some cases, outstanding warrants in the US. Huge leap from that to where you think this is going.

I'll tell you something BobR , IF that's the price I have to pay to ensure a child's safety

BRING IT .

I saw this programme earlier this evening. Quite unnerving when you see the behaviour of the men involved.

^that's what I watched as well... hence my thread.

Originally Posted by Mid

Action Pour Les Enfants (Action For Children, APLE)

Just an eye opener on the methods used by this scum khmer440.com :: View topic - Who is this guy?

Originally Posted by robuzo

Nobody in their right mind would be opposed to locking up child abusers, but there are rights and privacy issues that require concern. Are they merely assisting the Cambodians in applying their own laws? It does look like they are going beyond that. Which country's age of consent is applicable? This varies by state in the US, sometimes drastically. Will suspicions about child sex tourism be used as an excuse to search hard drives and memory media of returning US tourists? Do I have to be concerned about photos on my HD of my own kid frolicking nude on a beach in Thailand? From what I have heard, I do.

As I said, the stated motivations of the government are good, and if it gives sex predators pause, fine. Nonetheless, the possibilities for excess and abuse by law enforcement are serious. It might be more effective to encourage the Cambodians (and Thais) to get serious about enforcing their own laws.

Very easy not to have that problem, just keep the dicks out of anyone under 21, should be no problem for your average Asian sex-tourist or expat most being much older men as it is, and who have no business banging under 18 year old girls anyway.

If "John's" are in the slightest doubt about age walk away, there is thousands and thousands of more than Willing adult prostitutes to go around, quite sick really with 30 - 40 - 50 - 60 - year olds having to deliberately search for the borderline wanting to fuck someone younger or much younger than their own daughters !! not to much difference from real pedophiles now is there.

And NO !! even if they do it voluntarily it is very unlikely they are mature enough to have been making an informed right choice, that is why in most Countries we don't trust under 18 year olds to drive a car, to vote, get married, buy alcohol ect ect.

"Kent Frank just stood up and put his hand in his pocket. Then, shaking the hand with the boss. And the boss just found $100 in his hand," he says.

Frank admitted to having sex and taking photos of the girls he had been with, saying that he believed they were all over 18.

"That's a common defence, that these kids are older than what they appear to be because they're Asian," says ICE agent Gary Philips. "And if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that, I'd probably be a millionaire."

Frank tried to delete the incriminating photos on his digital camera, but at ICE's state-of-the-art cyber forensics lab back in the US, 1,600 deleted pictures were recovered. Frank is currently serving a 40-year sentence in a federal jail.

Good. Nice to read of a proper happy ending. Must really suck being a millionaire in your 40s while doing 40 yrs in a federal prison.

^With interest, think how much money he'll have to spend when he's in his 80's, and on his way back to Pattaya or Cambodia, wrinkly dick in hand.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

I, for one, applaud any/all efforts to get American pedophiles off the streets of whatever country they are preying on children in...

I am certainly not the patriotic type, but the phrasing makes it feel as though you are saying Americans are the problem in it's entirety. Certainly we all remember the Austrian who was arrested just a couple years ago, there are also many countless reports of British, German, Australian and Russian sexpats as well. It is a sick issue that has evil coming from all countries.

The US government has begun taking some action is the point of the article I think. That being said I now wonder if any of the above mentioned countries (aside from Australia) are following suit. Does anyone know if the UK has any sort of program such as this? I am actually surprised that the Khmer government allows such free reign to be taken by an American law enforcement group, there are some countries that I am certain would not even allow a program like this to operate because of it's source.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

These are not gullible tourists who have been entrapped by do-gooder NGO's, these are hard core sexual predators.

I certainly agree with this! But the previous question I think holds some weight. Who or what regulatory guidelines are there to keep these 'officers' in line and looking out for only genuine criminals? Not to mention a chain of evidence that can hold up in a US court? Are they apprehended by the same means they would be in the USA? I am just envisioning a team of 'special agents' convincing a criminal to board a plane LOL, you all know it would have to be done in a black ops style MO. There would be no cooperation by any means, yet they somehow end up back in LA to be arrested. Don't get me wrong I am not sympathetic to any of these freaks, but when law enforcement has no rules how are they any different? I just wanna know the rules that guide this agency.

LarvidCHR, I agree with your post 100%.

^^

But by that one Dollar will be worth just one Satang so he'll get one short-time and a bottle of Singha, unless he meets Bernie Madoff inside in which case he'll leave prison in debt.

Originally Posted by larvidchr

If "John's" are in the slightest doubt about age walk away, there is thousands and thousands of more than Willing adult prostitutes to go around, quite sick really with 30 - 40 - 50 - 60 - year olds having to deliberately search for the borderline wanting to fuck someone younger or much younger than their own daughters !! not to much difference from real pedophiles now is there.

Why, if they are "consenting adults" then why is this a problem? The only problem is prudes like you who have absolutely no business telling other people what to do with their life. Get over it, sex is totally natural and should have nothing to do with ones siblings.

Originally Posted by larvidchr

And NO !! even if they do it voluntarily it is very unlikely they are mature enough to have been making an informed right choice, that is why in most Countries we don't trust under 18 year olds to drive a car, to vote, get married, buy alcohol ect ect.

Mature enough? Stop putting young adults in a cage for your own amusement. If you look at the age of marriage, buying of alcohol of most countries the laws are generally very confused and have nothing to do with maturity of the individual. There are plenty the specify different ages for males and females.

Also the abbreviation for et cetera is 'etc', not 'ect'.

^^^Good points.

Originally Posted by JoshuaInMukdahan

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

I, for one, applaud any/all efforts to get American pedophiles off the streets of whatever country they are preying on children in...

I am certainly not the patriotic type, but the phrasing makes it feel as though you are saying Americans are the problem in it's entirety. Certainly we all remember the Austrian who was arrested just a couple years ago, there are also many countless reports of British, German, Australian and Russian sexpats as well. It is a sick issue that has evil coming from all countries.

Maybe you should get out more as there are far more sexpats with tendencies towards the illegal age coming from Asian countries to Thailand and Cambodia then from European countries. You only see reports of Western countries as they sell newspapers and hide the fact that the locals are really the problem.

Originally Posted by DroversDog

Maybe you should get out more as there are far more sexpats with tendencies towards the illegal age coming from Asian countries to Thailand and Cambodia then from European countries. You only see reports of Western countries as they sell newspapers and hide the fact that the locals are really the problem.

I do not have any figures saying where anyone is coming from or in what numbers. Frankly, many of these countries due to the corruption found within their law enforcement and court systems being not being addressed, nobody will ever really know what these numbers are.

I know the newspapers do not report and when they do it is biased, tourism is vital and bad press kills tourism. I am aware of this and am not arguing this fact, I am not arguing anything really. My point is simple, and was already clarified - this is a sick issue that all countries are guilty of having, and very few are doing anything to resolve. To top it all off, the dirty governments will accept a bribe and ignore the fact that their own citizens have been victimized. The fact that a 9 year old girl was brutally raped (willing or not) can go forgotten if the police chief or judge gets enough cash in hand to pay his cable bill or buy a couple bottles of Johnny Walker. It is a global issue that is difficult to address until the host countries can fix their own corruption issues systemically, at the roots.

Originally Posted by larvidchr

Very easy not to have that problem, just keep the dicks out of anyone under 21, should be no problem for your average Asian sex-tourist or expat most being much older men as it is, and who have no business banging under 18 year old girls anyway.

So is that under-21 or under-18 when you become King of the World, Larv? Anyway, if the bar is set that high the US agents are going to have a lot of work to do at home, since the age of consent is 16 in most states. I think your prescription is blurring the line between the distasteful and the irredeemably perverted/criminal.

While I think I've tangoed with this tar baby as much or more than I should have, here's an anecdote. My girlfriend during the summer prior to my final year of high school was 24- I didn't mention that I was 17 until it was time to leave the seaside town where I was working and had to go back to school. I hadn't got round to mentioning my age until we had been "dating" for a couple of months- she thought I was 20, which is even older than my fake ID said I was. Sure glad nobody arrested her, would have tainted what are otherwise very happy memories.

Originally Posted by DroversDog

Originally Posted by larvidchr

If "John's" are in the slightest doubt about age walk away, there is thousands and thousands of more than Willing adult prostitutes to go around, quite sick really with 30 - 40 - 50 - 60 - year olds having to deliberately search for the borderline wanting to fuck someone younger or much younger than their own daughters !! not to much difference from real pedophiles now is there.

Why, if they are "consenting adults" then why is this a problem? The only problem is prudes like you who have absolutely no business telling other people what to do with their life. Get over it, sex is totally natural and should have nothing to do with ones siblings.

Originally Posted by larvidchr

And NO !! even if they do it voluntarily it is very unlikely they are mature enough to have been making an informed right choice, that is why in most Countries we don't trust under 18 year olds to drive a car, to vote, get married, buy alcohol ect ect.

Mature enough? Stop putting young adults in a cage for your own amusement. If you look at the age of marriage, buying of alcohol of most countries the laws are generally very confused and have nothing to do with maturity of the individual. There are plenty the specify different ages for males and females.

Also the abbreviation for et cetera is 'etc', not 'ect'.

Consenting ADULTS, and the age of consent, is two different things to most normal people you sick puppy.

And those laws have everything to do with maturity in the developed world, some Country's see the limits a little bit different but the laws are there for the same reasons - protecting the young.

Although you show great spelling skill you obviously have big problems with morals and decency, and understanding the reasoning behind laws, but then again you don't have to understand why as long as you just follow the law, remember some places in the west it is illegal to even buy a prostitute even if she is as old as your grandmother, if you forget you might be spelling your name in front of a Judge but that wont impress the hell out of him either.

Now for free advise - go fuck yourself - that way you are sure not to get in any trouble

Originally Posted by robuzo

Originally Posted by larvidchr

Very easy not to have that problem, just keep the dicks out of anyone under 21, should be no problem for your average Asian sex-tourist or expat most being much older men as it is, and who have no business banging under 18 year old girls anyway.

So is that under-21 or under-18 when you become King of the World, Larv? Anyway, if the bar is set that high the US agents are going to have a lot of work to do at home, since the age of consent is 16 in most states. I think your prescription is blurring the line between the distasteful and the irredeemably perverted/criminal.

While I think I've tangoed with this tar baby as much or more than I should have, here's an anecdote. My girlfriend during the summer prior to my final year of high school was 24- I didn't mention that I was 17 until it was time to leave the seaside town where I was working and had to go back to school. I hadn't got round to mentioning my age until we had been "dating" for a couple of months- she thought I was 20, which is even older than my fake ID said I was. Sure glad nobody arrested her, would have tainted what are otherwise very happy memories.

The 21 was just to be on the safe side since i seem to remember that there still is some places where 21 is the limit for alcohol voting a.s.o. anyway if the 3 year age difference gives anyone sexual dysfunction they should go and see a shrink rather than a prostitute, and yes I'm mixing the distasteful with the criminal, the one gets you in trouble with the law the other should get you in trouble everywhere else.

I have no problems with young people of near/close to similar age falling in love or merely exploring their growing sexuality together, and your personal example is in that category, the problem comes when people fail to understand that the age of consent is set deliberately low in most developed country's to avoid criminalizing what is natural behavior in young people, that however is not a signal to old perverts to use their money, authority and experience to seduce and exploit children, and many Countries have amendments to the law where such behaviour still can be prosecuted, or social authorities can intervene if the parents don't and get the child/young out of trouble, otherwise it is so socially unacceptable that the ones not understanding that mostly is kept at bay by society and parents at large.

well done/said larv. it seems we have a couple of near, if not outright pedo's on the thread. why a mature man wants/needs to fuck a young girl with no experience is a bit wayout for me but then like everyone else ,,, i'm normal.