Child abuse manhunt centres on Thailand
Monday, 15 Oct 2007 19:33
Interpol say the suspect is an English teacher hiding in Thailand
Interpol believes the man who posted images of himself raping and sexually abusing young children on the internet is an English teacher hiding in Thailand.
The international police organisation received over 350 responses after releasing digitally unscrambled images of the suspect on October 8th and today announced it is confident it knows the paedophile's identity.
A statement published on its website today said that five separate sources across three continents had focused the investigation on Thailand and said the suspect flew from Seoul to Bangkok on October 11th.
"Thailand is at the centre of an international manhunt, and authorities in the country, in cooperation with Interpol and police around the world, are hunting him down,' Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said.
"The response and contribution we have had from the public has been remarkable, as has the support from the media, which has enabled officers in our specialised unit, our office in Bangkok and police in other member countries to make such remarkable progress in such a short space of time."
The initial appeal to the public followed the release of images derived from around 200 pictures, believed to have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2002 and 2003, which featured 12 different young boys.