MANILA, Philippines — A 58-year-old British pedophile will soon be deported for engaging in child pornography and for illegally staying in the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Thursday.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the foreigner identified as Kevin Victor Ryder was convicted in the United Kingdom in 2006 for child pornography, specifically for possession of “indecent photos of children.”
“We received a request for the UK authorities that he be arrested and deported due to reports that he was grooming a 12-year-old girl in the Philippines,” Morente said in a statement, adding that Ryder is also a registered sex offender in the United Kingdom.
Ryder was arrested in Angeles City, Pampanga on Feb. 14 during an operation by elements of BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU).
Immigration’s FSU Chief Bobby Raquepo said the British national has been overstaying in the country for five years. Ryder last arrived as a tourist in the Philippines in 2015.
Raquepo said they will deport Ryder for also being a threat to Filipino children, citing that the foreigner was also expelled from Thailand for sexual abuses against children.
“He will be blacklisted after we deport him so he will be unable to return to the country [Philippines],” the BI official said.
Ryder is under custody of the BI detention facility in Bicutan, Taguig City while deportation proceedings are being prepared against him.