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Man held in Canada for paedophilia charge in Nepal

Police in Canada have arrested a man who volunteered at an orphanage in Nepal on the charge of possessing child pornography and luring a child, Canadian media reported. Man held in Canada for paedophilia charge in Nepal

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Janakraj Sapkota

Published at : January 8, 2019

Updated at : January 8, 2019 15:53

Kathmandu

Police in Canada have arrested a man who volunteered at an orphanage in Nepal on the charge of possessing child pornography and luring a child, Canadian media reported.

Paul McCarthy, 62, was arrested on Friday at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and escorted off a plane headed to Panama City, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

McCarthy had previously been stopped by the Canada Border Services Agency in mid-December as he returned to Canada following a volunteering mission at an orphanage in Nepal.

Canadian authorities said officers found evidence of child pornography and conversations in which McCarthy asked to have sexual relations with children under the age of 16, the reports said.

The Ottawa Police Internet Child Exploitation Unit investigated and confirmed the images met the Criminal Code definition of child pornography, authorities allege.

Police investigation led to the identification of five victims—all Nepali boys under 16, Ottawa Citizen quoted police as saying. The investigation appears to have culminated in McCarthy’s arrest.

CTV News quoted Ottawa Police as saying that they searched McCarthy’s home on Friday and seized additional electronic devices allegedly containing more child pornographic images.

McCarthy was one of the donors of Child Haven, a not-for-profit children’s home based in Kathmandu. The organisation has operated shelter houses for children in Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Tibet.

Around 203 children and 22 women are sheltered at the organisation that started its work in Nepal in 2002. He had long been involved in prestigious international non-governmental organisations such as Care Canada, World University Service of Canada and the World Bank. His recent visits were focused in Nepal.

However, police have not been able to establish if the children who suffered molestation were from Child Haven.

According to the Tribhuvan International Airport immigration sources, McCarthy visited Nepal four times since March, 2017.

Bonnie Cappuccino, international director for Child Haven, a non-profit that runs a children’s home in Kathmandu, told the CBC News that McCarthy has been a long-time donor to the organisation.

“We certainly never saw any signs or indication that he was that type of person and I hope he isn’t. I hope it’s a false allegation,” she said.

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police said the cases of child molestation have been growing in Nepal in recent years. In the past 10 months alone, the bureau arrested five foreigners on the charge of molesting children.

In November 2018, the Kathmandu District Court convicted Dutch national Henrykus Adrinas Josepus Creujesan of paedophile and handed him seven-year jail and Rs50,000 fine. Cases of other foreigners facing pedophile charges—two French, one Canadian and a German citizens arrested by the bureau—are sub judice in court.