UK Cracks Down on British Pedophiles in Thailand

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in PATTAYA TODAY:

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Pedophiles Face Arrest Back Home

 

Sex tourists who seek out underage kids abroad will face charges in Britain under new laws coming into force this month. At present, abusers can only be prosecuted in UK if the offence is also a crime in the country where it occurred. But under the concept of “dual criminality” anyone having sex with a person under 16, which is the age of consent in Britain, could face charges even if the law in the other country is different or even more lenient.

 

Thailand’s laws on child sex are complicated with one age of consent being set at 15. However, this cannot apply if one partner has used financial inducements in connection with the illicit activity. Nor is the law entirely clear about prosecution in the case of a person downloading child pornography, unless it is for profit and intended distribution. Under the new rules, it matters only whether British law has been broken.

 

In some countries the age of consent is between 13 and 15 including Spain, Italy and several Baltic states. The new law will bring the UK into line with the European convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation.

 

Penalties have also been increased. Sexual activity with a child under 13 could mean a life sentence and with anyone under 16 a maximum of 14 years. Rules about taking indecent images of children are extended to children up to 18 rather than 16.

 

A Thai police spokesman said, “We are aware of the EU regulations. Whilst most sex offenders here will continue to be prosecuted in Thailand, there are some cases where prosecution in the home country would be appropriate. In such cases, the alleged offender’s visa would be canceled prior to deportation.”

 

So far this year, a crackdown on child sex in Pattaya has led to 15 arrests of foreigners. Most of these cases are currently with the public prosecutor’s office and the Thai courts.

 

British home secretary Jacqui Smith also announced that convicted pedophiles would have to hand over their e-mail addresses to the police who would send them to social networking sites for blacklisting. The new law stipulates that if such a person is detected using such a site, or is using an unregistered email address, the maximum sentence for this offense is five years. “We now have some of the strictest controls in the world on sex offenders,” she said.

[Guest Steve1903]

Somewhat at odds with their own admission that there are over 300 convicted sex offenders at large and they have no idea where they are, "they have disappeared".