The recent arrest in Thailand of a Canadian fugitive accused of sexually abusing children in that region raises, amongst many issues, serious questions about Canada's commitment to tracking down so-called child sex tourists and keeping a promise it made to the world to do so back in 1996. As mentioned this week in the Toronto Star, although Canada has strong legislation to tackle these crimes, it has fallen far behind other countries in enforcement. KINSA representatives and associates have been asked to comment. The following is a selection of recent interviews and coverage.
Canada lax in pursuing offenders abroad (Toronto Star)- includes response from KINSA co-chair Paul Gillespie
Response to alleged child predator arrest in Thailand (CTV)- includes video segments with Paul Gillespie and former Toronto Police Sex Crimes Unit head Gary Ellis
Thai police identify Interpol pedophile suspect as a 32-year-old Canadian (CBC)- includes response from Paul Gillespie
UPDATE: Suspected Canadian Pedophile Advised Youth for the Military (640AM Radio, Toronto)- includes response from Paul Gillespie
Labels: In the News
In today's National Post, KINSA Vice-Chair Paul Gillespie and other experts discuss changes necessary to improve our collective ability to protect children from sexual exploitation. Included in these recommendations are changes to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), amendments to the National Sex Offender Registry, sentencing issues, and child sex tourism. Read about how we can better protect our children here.
Paul Gillespie is also featured in the November issue of Today's Parent magazine.
There is no doubt that everyone working on cases involving child exploitation are working towards the same goal ... to stop the abuse. But it can be difficult to understand why identifying information that might rescue a child and protect others would be held back by investigators. The Current host Anna Maria Tremonti interviews Canadian law enforcement experts on what such investigations entail, and one of the voices heard is that of Paul Gillespie.
Read the show synopsis and link to selected audio portions from the show here.http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2007/200710/20071018.html