BI to deport British fugitive nabbed in Cebu

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is poised to deport a convicted British pedophile who was arrested for failing to report his whereabouts for the past two years to a court in the United Kingdom (UK).

Leslie Charles Russon, 52, was apprehended last Friday in Barangay Pitalo, San Fernando in Cebu by operatives of the BI’s fugitive search unit.

BI commissioner Jaime Morente said the Briton is a registered sex offender who was required by a UK court to periodically notify authorities about his location and address.

Russon, however, stopped complying with this requirement in September 2015 when he fled to the Philippines and did not return to the UK since then.

“We will deport him for posing a risk to Filipino children whom he might victimize while he continues to remain in the country,” the BI commissioner said in a statement.

The UK’s National Crime Agency informed the BI that the Briton had no intention of returning to the UK and that his continued presence in the Philippines poses a risk to children.

It was the National Crime Agency that sought the BI’s help in deporting Russon.

BI fugitive search unit chief and intelligence officer Bobby Raquepo said Russon was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1993.

This was after his conviction by a UK court for molesting three boys who were under 16 years of age.

After serving his sentence, Russon reportedly travelled back and forth to the Philippines quite frequently, Raquepo revealed.

“When he was in the UK, he would register and report his presence to the authorities. But he would travel back to the Philippines afterwards,” he explained.

BI records showed that Russon last traveled from the UK to Cebu on September 23, 2015, and even presented upon his arrival a return ticket dated December 21 of that year.

However, the Briton never boarded the return flight home and apparently stayed in the Philippines, until his arrest last Friday.                                   /kga