Police name 'internet paedophile' caught out in digitally altered images

Police hunting a paedophile seen sexually abusing young children in internet pictures released by Interpol believe they have identified him as an English language teacher who is now in Thailand

The suspected child abuser, photographed abusing children in Vietnam and Cambodia, was identified by five different sources from three continents as a man teaching English at a school in South Korea, Interpol said.

As well as the man's name and nationality, his date of birth, passport number, and current and previous places of work have also been established, Interpol said.

The international police organisation released a picture of the man who flew from Seoul to Bangkok International Airport on Thursday, where his image was captured by security cameras.

The paedophile had digitally altered his face in the pictures into a bizarre swirly pattern to prevent police identifying him, but left the details of his body sickeningly clear.

He was clearly confident he would never be uncovered but police were able to use highly-sophisticated software to unravel the pattern and reveal his true likeness.

Interpol issued the picture in an unprecedented public appeal to track him down. Some of the replies included detailed information such as names and addresses, while others were simply names or sightings of people met on holiday, Mr Persson said.

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Experts turned the digitally altered pervert's face into one you can recognise

Interpol forwarded detailed information to the countries concerned so that local police could check them out and follow up any leads.

The man appears in around 200 photographs featuring abuse of 12 young boys, which investigators believe were taken in Vietnam and Cambodia, possibly in 2002 and 2003.

"For years, images of this man sexually abusing children have been circulating on the internet," Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble said yesterday.

"We have tried all other means to identify and to bring him to justice, but we are now convinced that without the public's help this sexual predator could continue to rape and sexually abuse young children whose ages appear to range from six to early teens."

Mr Persson explained that a child abuser seeking contact with like-minded individuals on the internet would sometimes post pictures of himself in the act of abuse as a kind of 'ID card' to prove he is a hard-core paedophile.

The officer was initially against the public appeal because criminals would know police now had the technology to unblur images, but ultimately decided this factor was outweighed by the need to protect other children from abuse.

The technology to unscramble pictures was perfected in Germany last year and police say there will soon be no pixillated images they cannot decipher.

Mr Persson added: "We are sure that you can't get better pictures and the people in this man's neighbourhood - family friends, colleagues - will recognise him."

He said the man has distinguishing marks on his body which will allow police to be certain they have the right person.

Photographs of the man are available on Interpol's website, www.interpol.int and anyone with information is urged to contact police or Interpol's human trafficking unit.