Operation Twisted Traveler

This week in Los Angeles, three convicted sex offenders from California were arraigned in federal court - the first Americans arrested in an international law enforcement crackdown called Operation Twisted Traveler. They are accused of traveling to Cambodia to have sex with children.

"Pedophiles are sadly mistaken if they think they can get away with exploiting children in another country in order to satisfy their own perverted desires," said U.S. Attorney Tom O'Brien.

Jack Sporich, 75, is one of California's most dangerous sexual predators. He served nine years in prison, but in 2008 traveled to Cambodia.

According to the criminal complaint, Sporich would drive through poor towns throwing money and candy. He is accused with having sex with three boys, ages 9 to 13.

"The trauma they have endured is unimaginable and will haunt them for the rest of their lives," said Jeffrey Blom with the International Justice Mission.

Tough laws here requiring convicted sex offenders to register are sending them into hiding, to remote spots like Antioch, Calif. where Phillip Garrido hid Jaycee Duggard for 18 years. Some go much farther.

"I think sex offender registries as a whole are generally great in terms of monitoring. However there are unintended consequences," said Robin Sax, author of "Predators and Child Molesters" and a former prosecutor. "By driving people out of cities and into more rural areas we are again losing contact and not knowing where these people are."

Overall, an estimated 2 million children worldwide are exploited in sex industries, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy. Thailand, Cambodia and Costa Rica are popular destinations for sex tourists because laws are weakly enforced and sex is cheap and readily available.

The three men arrested in Operation Twisted Traveler will be tried in November and face 30 years in prison for each of their victims.

[piercetheval]

...since when did Antioch become a "remote spot"?

...remote is a relative term, but the way the author is utilizing it here is like he's giving the "Law" an excuse for not getting anywhere in the case for all those years...

[Hosheen]

Sex offenders are the new n***ers. People always need to have someone they can safely look down upon and denigrate. It's easy to ignore facts that way.

Most "sex offenders" are not pedophiles. Is a 19 y/o having sex with a 17 y/o a pedophile? Or even a sex offender for that matter?

The recidivism rate for all sex offenders is a fraction of that for other felonies such as assault, robbery, even murder. (FBI statistics)

Maybe we are registering the wrong group? Maybe religious reich groups that murder at abortion clinics would be a good start?

[Illuminated1]

Right or wrong, we should not impose our morality in other countries.
This includes possible crimes since we have no jurisdiction on other lands, we may as well send the police there and enforce our laws on them.

[armyoftwelve]

We should always enforce our morals on other peoples especially if the other peoples are inferior : )

[stevador39]

CHILD MOLESTERS ARE ALLOWED TO MOLEST CHILDREN. IT IS PART OF THE U.S. SOCIAL POLICY. TITLE 4 OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT DENYS MEN THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN THE HOME WITH THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN WHEN THEY GET AID TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN. THIS BREAKS DOWN THE FAMILY. THERE IS ANOTHER LOOP HOLE IN THE ACT THAT MAKES IT ILLEGAL FOR A MINOR TO GET AN INDEPENDENT LIVING GRANT AWAY FROM PARENTS, FOSTER CARE OR AN INSTITUTION. FROM THE AGE OF 18 TO 21 THERE IS NO FORM OF ASSISTANCE FOR CHILDREN. THE LACK OF MONEY OR RESOURCES MEANS THAT ABUSED CHILDREN TRYING TO PROTECT THEMSELVES MUST TURN TO THEIVING OR PROSTITUTION. HOWEVER, JIMMY CARTER PROVIDED A FAMILY RE-UNIFICATION PROGRAM FOR REFUGEES TO KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER AND FOR YOUNG REFUGEES THERE ARE INDEPENDENT LIVING GRANTS. THE BIGGEST CHILD MOLESTERS ON EARTH ARE MAKING POLICY FOR THIS GOVERNMENT. AS AN EXPERIENCED SOCIAL WORKER, I WAS UNABLE TO CLOSE FOSTER HOMES WITH HISTORIES OF CHILD MOLESTING. PUBLIC AGENCIES HAVE MORE COMMITMENT TO FOSTER HOMES THAN CHILDREN.

[armyoftwelve]

Of course, every commentator has overlooked pedophilia in predominatly muslim countries. Just last week a 12-year-old yemeni girl died in labor. That is just the tip of the iceberg. For 1400+ years there have been young girls bound in harems or less formal means of concubinage.
Even mohammed married a 14-year-old, so when modernizing voices call for the reform of "marraige" laws--they are condemned for being antiislamic.

During the occupation of Spain, the emir of Cordoba forced the peoples of
Galicia and Asturias to send virgin teenage girls as "tribute."

Most of the idiots who become suicide bombers do so hoping they will get seventy virgins. Why seventy virgins??? Obviously, that means the bomber will have seventy little chrries to pop. I mean, you could pray or play dominoes or be waited on hand and foot by a middle aged woman just as well as a young girl. The point is that pedophilia in this cultural context extendS EVEN TO THE AFTERLIFE!

So really, pedophilia is a GLOBAL problem. Not just a "white" or American problem. We're just lucky that we live in a free society and can improve ourselves by self-critique.

[jackp32]

....................and the ACLU will attempt to come to their rescue and claim wrongful arrest because the rights of these child molesters to molest children were violated. By the way, it wasn't very long ago when a lawyer with the ACLU was sent to prison following his conviction for child molestation. What does that tell you about this organization.

[democracy1]

I highly doubt that. The ACLU defends the civil rights of citizens to the extent that those rights are promised under the Constitution, including the rights of children. In no way have they ever supported the molestation and abuse of children. If one of them was guilty of such a crime and is in prison, then the system works. Does that mean that they defended his crime?--no.

They are NOT just liberal. The ACLU also works to protect the rights of conservative citizens as well. Take off your ideological blinders.

[barbaram99]

Some one brought up the churches. Good point. Foster homes as well. I was a foster child.
In America it goes on as we write and post. Sure it is Wrong. America won't put them in one place so they can be watched. They yell RIGHTS.What about the child they abuse. I am grown. Fostor father was into children for sexx. I pulled him off many nights years ago. Know it is wrong. Everypne turns a blind eye. I am blind. No one has the right to abuse thr worlds children. Mostly men do this. This behaviour makes me sick.

[jolanta725]

Unfortunately these "people" are usually not little Hitlers who are raving sociopaths easy to identify--they can be imbedded into society--priests, ministers, dentists, social workers etc.--who do good work in society--except for this miserable fatal flaw--I think we hate this about them especially--I thank God I don't have this "hideous urge"

[pensacola8-2009]

Religious Fundamentalism and exremism is the core root of this problem.

Traditional religion is sexually oppressive. Since religion has successfully lobbied against other things like public nudity, the curiosity has forced people into patterns of extreme ignorance about not knowing the difference between nudity and sexuality.

Nations that are open and tolerant about public nudity don't have rampant sex offenders. They exist on the belief that nudity is one thing and sexuality is another. Once the curiosity is settled with open and honest education in a healthy way at a young age, the pursuit ends.

The USA harbors many traditions born in the dark ages that we need to eradicate and divorce.

[DoubleHappiness88]

pensacola8-2009, you are correct. What is more, religionists have a sick FETISH for punishment.

PJC, 1964

[armyoftwelve]

I know a lot of fundamentalists and I don't think that any of them embrace pedophilia. You make sweeping generalizations and lack a coherent thought process.

Holland very liberal laws and attitudes regarding sex (Thailand too) and they are the WORST when it comes to sex abuse and the patronage of the sex "industry." READ THE ARTICLE!

I don't know of any country where people parade down the street butt-naked. I've visited ten different countries and never met anyone who thought that a naked old man walking down the street was "normal."
I've never met anyone who thought that you have to be naked to have sex.

The problem here is sex....not religion.

[DoubleHappiness88]

*Equal Justice*? I do not think so.

If these offenders were priests, preachers or Sunday school teachers, they would be blessed and/or excused.

If the US is to police the world for those having sex with children, we may as well begin by arresting the entire population of Saudi Arabia and, of course, a lot of Mormons, Catholics, evangelicals and other *holy* folks in this country.