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NEWARK: US authorities on Thursday arrested a
58-year-old man accused of sexually abusing young Asian boys, ending
a two-day global manhunt sparked by a rare public appeal from
Interpol.
Wayne Nelson Corliss was arrested
in Union City, just outside New York City, and later appeared in
court in Newark, New Jersey, looking nervous, handcuffed and wearing
a gray sweater.
He was charged with one count of
producing child pornography but he did not enter a plea and is
expected to appear in court again on Monday. Prosecutors said
further charges are likely to be added.
Corliss spoke only to confirm he
understood he had been charged and to say he wanted legal
representation. He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
It was only the second time
Interpol had made such a public appeal to catch a suspected
pedo-phile, following a search named Operation Vico last year for
Christopher Paul Neil, a 32-year-old Canadian who was later caught
in Thailand.
Interpol announced Corliss’
arrest on its website with a photo of the fair-haired, bespectacled
suspect with the word “arrested” stamped across it in red
letters.
“The arrest of the suspected
child sex abuser came about as a result of independent tips provided
via the Internet to Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon by three
individuals living in the United States,” the agency said.
It said that the man had admitted
to molesting the three boys and sharing pictures of the abuse over
the Internet.
The worldwide police agency said
its website had about 250,000 visits a day—10 times more than
usual—since it launched its manhunt, codenamed Operation IDent, on
Tuesday, when it posted images of the suspect.
Corliss is accused of
distributing hundreds of photos on the Internet of him allegedly
abusing three Southeast Asian boys aged between six and 10. The
photographs were believed to have been taken in 2000 and 2001.
Interpol said Wednesday that its
appeal produced more than 200 leads—potential names, locations and
photos of the suspect—in the first 24 hours.
--AFP
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