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3 Busted in Cambodian Kid Sex Face US Trial

Justice-Immigration program extradites molesters to federal court

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 1, 2009 8:19 AM CDT

(Newser) – Three Americans arrested in Cambodia for sexually exploiting boys and girls as young as 10 are being returned to the US for trial, CNN reports. They were snagged by a joint program by the Justice Department and immigration authorities, known as Operation Twister Traveler, designed to combat sex tourism. The men, who have all been convicted of sex offenses in the US, will be tried in federal court under a new law specifically targeting Americans in Cambodia.

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Cambodian children outside a gate during the UN-backed tribunal Monday, June 29, 2009 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian children play around a well near their home at a resettlement village for people who were evicted from a slum in Samroang Thom village near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Aug. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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The men charged in this investigation apparently thought they could pursue their abhorrent desires by leaving the United States to prey on children in another country, but they were sadly mistaken. - US Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien

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3 Busted in Cambodian Kid Sex Face US Trial