Monday, 17 January 2011

Police arrest US sex offender


via CAAI

Sunday, 16 January 2011 19:33 Cheang Sokha

Police and officials from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested one of America’s most wanted men, a convicted child sex offender who is believed to have fled the US about a year ago.

Loren Oulman, 72, of Minnesota, was apprehended in Preah Sihanouk province on Friday on charges of travelling in Cambodia with a revoked US passport.

He is wanted in the US for probation violations and failure to register as a sex offender.

Samleang Seila, country director for anti-paedophile NGO Action Pour les Enfants, said Oulman had two prior convictions in the US for child sex offences, including possession of child pornography.

“I think he is a dangerous man who threatens the safety of Cambodian children,” he said.

“I believe abusing a child in Cambodia is no longer anonymous for the offender, either here or in their home country. You will be watched if you intend to sexually exploit a child.”

According to a statement released by APLE, Oulman gained infamy when his offences were broadcast on the popular American television show America’s Most Wanted last November.

Oulman, a convicted sex offender, was obliged to register with police on a regular basis.

He failed to register and was subsequently arrested, but posted US$10,000 bail and fled to Cambodia.

APLE found no evidence to suggest that Oulman had committed sex offences against Cambodian children.

Bith Kimhong, director of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department at the Ministry of Interior, said the arrest was made through cooperation between FBI officials and Cambodian police.

“[Oulman] is currently at the immigration department awaiting deportation,” said Bith Kimhong.

“Immigration police are working on the documents with the FBI.”

National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith said today that Oulman’s passport was invalidated after he was convicted of child sex offences in the US.

“We have reported to Ministry of Interior to decide whether to deport him or not,” Kirt Chantharith said, but added that no decision had been made so far.

In December, The Post reported that an American citizen, Michael Dodd, was sentenced to almost nine years in prison by a US district court for having sex with a 14-year-old Cambodian girl.

Dodd was escorted to the US by FBI agents after serving 16 months in a Cambodian prison, but managed to dodge a harsher sentence through a plea deal with US prosecutors.

US Embassy spokesman Mark Wenig said in an email that US privacy laws prohibit comment on individual cases, but that the embassy works to “aggressively” promote the PROTECT Act, which allows citizens to be prosecuted in US courts for sex crimes committed abroad.

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