LYON, France - Interpol has requested help from the global public in identifying a man said to have been shown sexually abusing children in images circulating on the Internet.
The suspect is believed to be a dark-haired European man between the ages of 35 and 40. The man was code-named "Vico" following analysis of 200 photographs of him with 12 boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.
"For years, images of this man sexually abusing children have been circulating on the Internet," Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said Monday. "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 6 to early teens.
"We have very good reason to believe that he travels the world in order to sexually abuse and exploit vulnerable children, and as an 186-member-country police organization, Interpol is uniquely positioned to coordinate this global effort to identify and bring him to justice."
The original photographs reportedly were digitally altered by the man or his accomplices to disguise his face. However, specialists in Germany worked with Interpol's Trafficking in Human Beings Unit to produce a photo from which the man can be identified.
Kristin Kvigne, assistant director of Interpol's Trafficking in Human Beings Unit, said the organization is not "encouraging members of the public to take any direct action themselves," since law-enforcement authorities would have to confirm any "positive identification." Any information that could help investigators should be reported to police or the Interpol National Central Bureau.
Photographs of the man are posted on the Interpol site. Send information, questions and comments to Interpol's Trafficking in Human Beings Unit.
