U.S. Cracking Down On Child Sex Tourism In Cambodia

5th March 2010
By John Morton
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

By any measure, Cambodia has come a long way in a relatively short period of time.

Since its full independence in 1953, this nation of now 14 million has endured two distinct and lengthy conflicts, and dictatorial regime that – between 1976 and 1979 – annihilated at least 1.5 million Cambodians through execution, forced servitude, and malnourishment.

Cambodia is a democracy today, but serious problems remain.

Child sex tourism in Cambodia is a persistent, pervasive practice that threatens the most vulnerable in this developing country. In recent years, the Cambodian National Police, international partners, and a number of non-governmental organizations have worked to crack down on pedophiles from around the world, arresting and prosecuting these criminals while working to rescue and rehabilitate the abused.

I am proud to say that the agency I lead, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is at the forefront of this emerging issue, and aggressively pursues Americans who travel overseas to abuse children. Millions of children fall prey each year to sexual predators, and these young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical, and emotional scars. Many American criminals clearly believe they can evade detection and prosecution by committing child sex crimes overseas. They are wrong.

My visit to Cambodia seeks to strengthen our ongoing cooperation with the Cambodian National Police. Earlier this week, we signed a Letter of Intent to solidify the working relationship between our two law enforcement agencies to combat child sex tourism. This agreement seeks to develop a bi-national, coordinated, and intelligence-driven investigative response to the sexual exploitation of children by U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

There is no more poignant reminder of the critical nature of these investigations than a neighborhood outside Phnom Penh, known simply by its distance from the center of town – “Kilo 11.” There, predators from around the world prey on young boys and girls amidst the shocking poverty of a Cambodian slum. Accompanied by our Cambodian Police partners, we walked down narrow streets and dark alleys where we saw firsthand the extreme circumstances that lead some families to sell their children to these criminals – many of them from Western nations.

Not long ago, ICE agents assisted in arresting an American man for abusing a six-year-old child in a ramshackle blue hut, set deep in this labyrinthine neighborhood. This individual was eventually returned to the United States and is currently standing trial for charges stemming from his arrest in Cambodia.

These types of cases are extremely challenging to investigate and prosecute, but we owe it to these young victims to take action. Tragically, many of these children will bear the emotional and physical scars of this trauma for the rest of their lives.

The United States would not be able to successfully prosecute these cases without the assistance of our international partners.

John Morton is the Assistant Secretary U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Unlicensed money transmitters admit to violating U.S. currency laws

2009-04-27
Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

PHILADELPHIA - Youra Orn, 61, and Mony Serey, 35, both of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty on April 21 to conspiracy and to transporting U.S. currency without filing the proper paperwork. The charges resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The defendants admitted they failed to prepare or file a report of the international transportation of currency with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The indictment charged Serey with boarding a plane for Cambodia with approximately $271,528. Orn and Serey accepted cash from customers to transfer the cash to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, via international wire or physical transport, without obtaining a license to operate a money transmitting business. They also failed to register as money transmitters with the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as required by federal law.

The defendants face a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, a $500 special assessment and three years of supervised release when sentenced on July 23, 2009. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Floyd J. Miller and David J. Caputo.

70 arrests announced in ICE antigang operation [-Cambodian(s) among those arrested]

August 8, 2008
By Globe Staff
Boston Globe (USA)

Fifty-two gang members and 28 other criminals have been arrested this week as part of a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, ICE announced today.

The agency said that the arrests were part of Operation Community Shield, which targets violent street gangs. The people arrested belonged to 24 different gangs, including the Tiny Rascals, Bloods, Crips, 18th Street, MS-13, and the Deuce Boys.

"Criminal aliens should be on notice that ICE is working closely with local law enforcement to take off the streets those who threaten the very safety of our neighborhoods," Bruce Foucart, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Boston, said in a statement.

But Shuya Ohya, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said the ICE agents were using heavy-handed tactics and questioned whether they were arresting the right people.

"Protecting public safety should not be terrorizing communities," he said. "Families with no cause to fear are now in a panic."

Those arrested came from Barbados, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Portugal, Trinidad, and Vietnam.

The operation was conducted in partnership with police in Boston, Cambridge, Worcester, New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Lowell, Lawrence, and 15 other cities and towns.

Ohya said that a vigil was planned in Lowell this evening where community members were planning to speak out.

While the operation might be intended to target violent gangs, "there's a lot of other people in here that they're portraying as violent criminals when that might not be the case at all," he said.

Vong Ros, executive director of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, a social service agency for Cambodian immigrants in Lowell, said the raid had caused "major fear throughout the community."