Kathmandu, July 1

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal has arrested a German national, identified as Albert Fred Klinicke, on the charge of paedophilia and rescued a minor from his clutches.

The CIB said the 63-year-old German (passport number C4K6M3578) from Neuhaus Jetzt Paderborn of Germany had been visiting Nepal frequently.

Superintendent of Police Meera Chaudhary informed that plainclothes cops on Thursday raided a hotel in Thamel, a tourist hub of Kathmandu, and apprehended Klinicke while rescuing a boy. Kathmandu District Court has remanded him to seven-day judicial custody for further investigation.

“We were keeping constant vigil acting on information that a section of foreign citizens were molesting children and making them victims of pedophilia for a long time. The arrest of the German citizen was part of this operation,” she said. Klinicke lured children with money and delicacies and brought them to the Thamel-based hotel, where the suspected paedophile would prey on them.

According to Number 9(A) of Chapter 14 of Muluki Ain, a person who commits sodomy (any kind of unnatural sexual intercourse) with a minor shall be considered to have committed an offence of rape and the offender shall be liable to nine to 13 years of imprisonment. The court will also make an order to provide appropriate compensation to such a minor from the offender upon considering the age and trauma suffered by the minor.

Earlier on September 9, 2016, CIB had arrested Kenneth Joseph Coombs (passport number 517817112) of Illinois, USA from a Thamel-based hotel while rescuing five boys aged between 12 and 16 years. The 48-year-old American was accused of molesting scores of underage boys and having unnatural sex with them in the capital city. Similarly, Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh, 71, a Canadian, was arrested from Lalitpur in 2015 for sexually assaulting a boy. He was a notorious international paedophile and is currently serving sentence in Nakhkhu Jail.