U.S. Tries to Combat
Sexual Abuse of Kids
2003-12-17
It's the seamier side
of the rise in international tourism: the sexual abuse of children,
some as young as five. Many of the predators are American.
The United States and other governments worldwide are taking
increased notice of the phenomenon.
A law enacted this year makes it a crime for any person to enter the
United States or for any citizen to travel abroad for the purpose of
sex tourism involving children.
The first indictment under the law occurred in September in U.S.
District Court in Seattle. Michael L. Clark, 69, was charged with
having sexual contact with young boys in Cambodia. If convicted, he
could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
Last month, a federal grand jury in Seattle handed down an
indictment against Gary Evans Jackson, 56. He was accused of having
sex with three Cambodian boys, between the ages of 10 to 15.
The State Department is granting $500,000 to World Vision, a
Christian humanitarian organization, to assist the group's efforts
to combat the practice in Cambodia, Thailand and Costa Rica.
Joe Mettimano, a World Vision spokesman, says the group hopes that
deterrence can keep American child molesters away from the many
countries where children are abducted, forced or coerced into
commercial sex slavery each year.
He says World Vision is providing "pop-up" messages on Internet
sites that tout child sex tourism opportunities abroad. The messages
are a warning to pedophiles that they could be subject to arrest if
they sexually abuse a minor.
The group also has plans to display the message at airports and
airlines and in destination countries through local television,
billboards and road signs.
Former Rep. John R. Miller, R-Wa, who heads the State Department
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons says, "Sex
tourism is one of the major components of modern day slavery, the
biggest driver of forced child prostitution."
World Vision cited statistics to show that more than 1 million
children are recruited annually into commercial sex slavery.
The highest concentrations of child prostitutes are found in Asia
and South America, it says. The figures, it adds, have increased
enormously in the recent past in Russia, Poland, Romania, Hungary
and the Czech Republic.
Many sex tourists are born pedophiles but the majority are
"situational offenders" driven by curiosity or other reasons, World
Vision says.
The group has made some inroads in Cambodia with the help of the
country's Ministry of Tourism. As an example, a number of local
hotels now forbid local children from entering with foreigners.
Children make up only a part of trafficking in the international sex
trade. And the State Department issues a report each year on the
efforts of governments to combat the overall problem.
Countries that are not making significant efforts to combat this
"modern day slavery" could be subject to U.S. sanctions.
A State Department report in June estimated that 800,000 to 900,000
people worldwide every year are trafficked across borders into the
sex trade or into forced labor situations. Up to 20,000 are
trafficked into the United States.
"It is incomprehensible," says Secretary of State Colin Powell (news
- web sites), "that trafficking in human beings is taking place in
the 21st Century incomprehensible but true. Trafficking leaves no
land untouched, including our own."
US Crime: Travel Abroad to Sexually Abuse Children
2003-04-12
Casa Alianza, a large
non-profit working with street children in Latin America, has
announced a new phase of cooperation with the FBI and the US Justice
Dept. to catch American child sexual abusers in Central America.
According to Title 18, Section 2423, a federal statute in the US, it
is a crime for any American citizen to travel abroad with the intent
to sexually abuse children. Sentences can be up to 10 years of
imprisonment plus fines of US$ 250,000.
"We have noticed a significant increase in the number of cases of
sexual abuse against street boys and girls, perpetrated by
foreigners who travel to the countries we work with," explained
Bruce Harris, Regional Director of the Casa Alianza Programs for
Latin America. "Among this group of foreigners, the number of
Americans is rising. This seems to indicate that Central America is
being seen as a haven for sick adults who wish to sexually abuse
small children. This has become a very real and urgent problem."
Casa Alianza, with its regional office in Costa Rica, offers
programs for abandoned children in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and
Nicaragua, serving more than 4,400 homeless children each year. Casa
Alianza is presently dealing with more than 540 legal cases going
through the courts in the various countries it works with.
In one case in Costa Rica, a Costa Rican man and his American wife
have been locally prosecuted and accused of having a brothel
exclusively for foreigners, in which they often used underage girls.
The problem of abuse by foreigners is not limited to American
perpetrators. Casa Alianza reports other cases by Chilean, Mexican,
and various other nationalities. Although some of the cases are
prosecuted locally, "in many cases there isn't even an arrest of the
perpetrator, because of the bribes given to local police and other
authorities, " reports Harris.
The Dept. of Justice in the US is gathering the names and addresses
of Americans who sexually abuse children abroad and this information
is then passed on to local police authorities when such individuals
return to the US.
"We want to send a very clear message to all Americans who come to
Central America with the intent to sexually abuse street children,
or any other child," warned Harris. "Casa Alianza, with the support
of the FBI, will come after you. Don't do it. See a psychologist
instead."
Costa Rica Gets Tough on Kiddie Porn
2001-09-01
A Canadian man was sentenced in Costa Rica to 23 years in prison for
sexually exploiting underage girls and distributing their pictures
over the Internet.
Children's rights advocates have fustigated Costa Rica for becoming
a haven for pedophiles, many of whom are drawn to the Central
American country by Internet sites advertising prostitution, which
is legal there.
The Costa Rican Supreme Court confirmed a ruling by a lower court
finding Fahny Hanny, 45, guilty of corruption of minors and drug
dealing, said a spokeswoman from the country's Attorney General's
office. Possession of child pornography is not a crime in Costa
Rica, but producing and distribution it is.
An investigation into the Hanny case was opened after a complaint
lodged by Casa Alianza, a nonprofit dedicated to rehabilitating
street children in Central America that is headquartered in San
José, Costa Rica.
"We were pleasantly surprised because it's a very strong sentence by
Costa Rican standards," said Casa Alianza Director Bruce Harris. "It
puts out a message that (the government) won't put up with people
who come here to abuse children."
Hanny, a retired auditor of Egyptian origin, bought a house in an
upper-middle class district of San José three years earlier, Harris
said. He preyed on neighborhood girls ranging from 12 to 15 years,
plying them with drugs and alcohol and paying them for sex.
"He organized orgies at his house and would invite other
foreigners," said Harris.
The Costa Rican government has been loath to acknowledge the
country's rampant pedophilia problem.
In an interview with ABC's 20/20 news program, President Miguel
Angel Rodriguez blamed Casa Alianza for exaggerating the problem. He
said that child prostitution in Costa Rica consisted of "20 to 30
girls on the streets," contradicting estimates by Costa Rican child
welfare authorities that there are over 3,000 children who sell
their bodies in the capital alone.
In July, Costa Rican police busted a pedophile ring run by a
government employee who produced kiddie porn and distributed kiddie
porn on state computers. Authorities infiltrated the group, which
recruited boys in video game parlors around San José, through an
Internet chat room.
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Nationals Reported to Outnumber Foreigners in Sexual Offences in
Costa Rica
2003-12-03
Costa Rican nationals were the primary suspects in 58% of child
sexual offences reported locally to Casa Alianza’s Regional Office
in San Jose this year.
In 2003, the number of child sexual offence reports received by Casa
Alianza nearly doubled compared to the previous year. In 2002, 96
reports were received by the Legal Aid department of Casa Alianza.
By December 2003, that number had jumped to 221. The total number of
suspects also jumped from 110 in the previous year, to 241 in 2003.
According to statistics gathered by Casa Alianza’s Legal Aid Program
in San José, citizens reported 66 cases of procuring sex and
prostitution of minors; 25 cases of corrupting minors; 60 cases of
sexual relations with minors; 30 cases of sexual abuse, and 13 cases
of the rape of a minor.
In addition, Casa Alianza received reports of 12 cases of the
production of child pornography, five cases related to obscene acts,
four cases of distribution of child pornography, two cases of
threats against a minor, and two cases of trafficking of children.
This year saw a much greater diversity in the nationalities of the
offenders in Costa Rica. Of the 42% of reported child sexual
offenders who were not Costa Rican, 9.5% were offenders from the
United States and 3.7% were Colombian. The nationalities of the
remaining 21.1% were unknown. Some sex offence suspects included
citizens from countries as far away as Hungary, Iran, and China
among others.
Each case received by Casa Alianza was presented to the Ministry of
Public Security, with the hopes of determining penal liability in
each situation.
We are truly impressed with how the Costa Rican public has responded
to people who violate, exploit, and sexually abuse children and
adolescents. People are finding that taking the time to make a phone
call and reporting child offenders really makes a difference to the
safety and well being of the country’s children. We are pleased that
the work of the Special Prosecutor on Sex Crimes is sending out the
message that when it comes to abusing children, no one has
impunity,” commented Bruce Harris, Regional Director of Casa
Alianza’s Latin American programs.
The majorities of the offenses were reported in Costa Rica’s
capital, San José (116 cases) but are not isolated to the city.
Child sexual offences were also reported in Alajuela (24 cases),
Heredia (18 cases), Puntarenas (15 cases) and Guanacaste (18 cases).
For the past three years, Casa Alianza has been receiving a number
of reports related to the trafficking of minors into and through
Costa Rica. This relatively new form of child abuse is becoming
recognized and reported as more information becomes available.
“We believe that people are beginning to understand that the
trafficking of minors is not just an immigration issue. It is
inextricably linked to the sexual exploitation of minors. Many
children from other countries are promised work and opportunities in
Costa Rica, only to be exploited once they arrive here. We believe
that Costa Rican children are being trafficked into other countries
for the purpose of exploitation as well,” commented Harris.
In some cases that required special attention, the PANI (Patronato
Nacional de la Infancia), Costa Rica’s official child protection
agency, intervened. Cases that required PANI´s intervention included
those of child abuse (34 cases); abandonment (7); child labor (6);
procuring sex with and prostitution of minors (4); using the image
of a minor (1); sexual abuse (3); selling drugs to a minor (1) and
selling liquor to a minor (3).
Casa Alianza renews it’s promise to help Costa Rican citizens keep
their children safe. Citizens and foreigners are invited to call
(+506) 253-5439 to report these illegal activities. Casa Alianza
guarantees that information received and used in the investigation
of reports will be kept completely confidential.
American
sex tourist receives 15 Year jail sentence in Costa Rica
2003-11-21
Until last year,
Costa Rica was James Kirging’s vacation destination of choice. For
four years, the US citizen made frequent trips to the tropical
paradise. Kirging’s vacation ended abruptly when, one year ago, he
was arrested on suspicion of having paid for sex with Costa Rican
girls.
This past Friday, Costa Rica’s San José Penal Tribunal gave Kirging
a 15-year jail sentence for his crime. Kirging is being held in
preventive detention and will be moved to the La Reforma
Penitentiary to complete his sentence.
Casa Alianza, a non-governmental organization that works to defend
and protect the rights of children in Latin America is celebrating
the decision, which sends a strong message to tourists visiting
Costa Rica that they are accountable for their actions outside their
home countries.
Each time a sex tourist is convicted, Costa Rica not only takes a
step forward in the protection of its children, it also sends a
clear message to child sex offenders that they cannot use Costa Rica
as a playground to do whatever they want, commented Bruce
Harris, the Regional Director for Casa Alianza, upon receiving news
of the sentence.
Kirging, a marketing professor from New Jersey, had been making
frequent visits to Costa Rica starting in 1998 until the time of his
arrest.
The Costa Rican Penal Code stipulates a sentence of up to 10 years
for persons who have sexual relationships with minors for money or
any other form of payment.
This is further proof that sex tourists are not clients to these
children but abusers that belong behind bars, commented
Harris.
Casa Alianza urges people to continue reporting crimes against
children in Costa Rica or elsewhere by calling +506-253-5439.
Confidentiality is guaranteed.
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