By Kate Bartlett
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
Police are hunting for an ex-U.S. army sergeant, who is wanted in his home country for child sex abuse and believed to be hiding out in the seedy Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville, The Cambodia Daily reported Thursday.
Michael Edward Harris, 34, fled Florida - where he was out on bail for charges of possession of child pornography - and is believed to have entered Cambodia in January, the paper said. He is on the U.S. army's “20 Most Wanted” list.
According to the Daily, Harris had until this week been working as a dog trainer at a company called K9 Cambodia Elite Service Dog Facility in the popular tourist enclave. Cambodia's interior ministry confirmed Wednesday that they are seeking to arrest him.
"We will go to Sihanoukville... alongside staff of the U.S. Embassy to find and arrest him," the Daily quoted ministry director Sok Phal as saying.
Harris' ex-wife Denise Diaz told the paper her former husband was a long-time child sex offender.
"My children are two of his victims and he will continue to perpetrate crimes against children," she said. "He has been doing it for many years undetected."
While there is no evidence Harris was involved in illegal activity in Sihanoukville, Khoem Vando - who works for child protection NGO Action Pour les Enfants (APLE) -said the fact the American could be a risk to Cambodian children had to be considered.
"It's just an assumption at this stage, but the likelihood that he has been in contact with children here is high and he may have come to Cambodia specifically to interact with Cambodian kids," Vando told the Cambodia Daily.
For years, child sex offenders - aware of the country's lax laws, corrupt police force and desperate poverty - have flocked to Cambodia, but groups such as APLE have been instrumental in helping authorities try and bring perpetrators to justice.
www.aa.com.tr/en
