Child Abuser Identified As English Teacher

Detectives hunting a pedophile pictured on websites sexually abusing young children have identified him as an English language teacher in south-east Asia, Interpol confirmed yesterday.

The man, whose digitally altered image was reconstructed by German computer experts, is currently believed to be in Thailand. He was reportedly identified by five different sources from three continents as a man teaching English at a school in South Korea.

The organization did not reveal whether the suspect was a British national. The man's name, nationality, date of birth, passport number, and current and previous places of work have been established but not released, Interpol said.

Although the original photograph was digitally altered to disguise his face, specialists from Germany's federal police agency, the Bundeskriminalamt, working with Interpol's trafficking in human beings unit, were able to recreate an identifiable image of him.

The man had been pictured sexually abusing 12 different young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia in a series of around 200 images.

The international police organization, which is based in Lyon, central France, released a picture of the man who flew from Seoul to Bangkok on Thursday, where his image was captured by security cameras. The latest image showed a white man, wearing glasses, with a shaved head and receding hairline.

"Thailand is at the center of an international manhunt, and authorities in the country, in cooperation with Interpol and police around the world, are hunting him down," said Interpol's secretary general, Ronald Noble.

"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 specialized unit, our office in Bangkok and police in other member countries to make such remarkable progress in such a short space of time."

More than 350 people around the world contacted the organization in response to the appeal launched last week. Interpol, which has 186 member countries, said the suspect was identified within three days of the launch of Operation Vico.

The internet pictures showed the man abusing a dozen boys, apparently ranging in age from six to their early teens.