US Citizen Arrested In Russia On Pedophilia Charges

A U.S. citizen was arrested and detained in St. Petersburg, Russia, on suspicion of child sexual abuse, a statement from the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation for St. Petersburg said Friday.

The 47-year-old man, whose name is yet to be revealed, committed sexual acts on a 9-year-old near one of the houses along the Utochkina street on Aug. 30, the statement said. A deaf-mute mother reported an attack on her child in a public park by the man, a report said. He was also suspected of having committed a similar crime against a 9-year-old disabled boy near the area of Lake Dolgoye on Sept. 3.

The man was working as an English teacher in a private school for adults. He was taken into custody by the St. Petersburg police and is being interrogated for the crimes. The statement said investigation into the crime is going on. It also said that the man was in the country illegally since 2012.

Authorities said he was charged for a crime provided in article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (other acts of a sexual nature).

In an unrelated incident, a 63-year-old suspected pedophile from Texas, who fled to Cambodia, was arrested for alleged “continuous sexual abuse of a child” on Aug.29. William Brenner was hunted down by American officials, who alerted the local authorities in Cambodia. He will be deported to Houston, Texas to face trial in court, the Daily Mail reported.

When the U.S. authorities found he was staying in the country, his passport was canceled, Cambodia Interior Minister Sar Kheng said.

According to Police chief Major General Chuon Narin, Brenner was arrested as he was leaving a hotel. Brenner reportedly didn't have a job.

“The suspect did not have a passport with him and we do not know how long he has been in the country. Cambodian officers arrested him after the following information from the US Regional Security Office,” Narin said. “We were notified of his presence here and the allegations of child abuse. We acted on the information and executed the arrest warrant to question him for staying in the country illegally.”

In yet another incident, a Southhaven man accused of sex crimes against a child was arrested in Louisiana on Aug. 31. The man, 56-year-old Rudolph Lurding, was arrested on a warrant out of Louisiana, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said.

The child was with him at the time of the arrest. Officers said the child was taken away and is now safe. He was charged with three counts of sexual battery of a child under 13 and three counts of producing pornography involving a child under 13 years old.

"It's a shock, you know because they are normal neighbors and next thing you know,” Phillip France, who lived in the same locality, said. "I didn't speak to him very often at all because he kept to himself. They were just there for probably three weeks and all of a sudden there were vehicles from Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, all unmarked."