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Whistleblower
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
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 Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: Pedophiles Drawn to ESL Jobs |
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Just an article I found about ESL Teachers who are also Pedophiles. I hate the press giving us a bad name but I guess they are right up to a point. Not every Pedophile is going to pack their bags to Korea and teach English though.
Click here for more info.
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Pedophiles drawn to ESL jobs, groups warn
Adrian Humphreys, National Post
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2007
As the international hunt continues for a Canadian teacher suspected of sexually abusing children in Asia, child-protection activists are warning that pedophiles are increasingly seeking work overseas as English-language instructors as a way to feed their illicit desires.
Christopher Paul Neil, 32, was an English-as-a-second-language teacher in Korea when Interpol released his photograph and named him as a man sexually abusing young children in Southeast Asia in pictures shared over the Internet.
The Maple Ridge, B.C., man remains a fugitive and was last seen arriving in Thailand at Bangkok's international airport last Thursday on a flight from South Korea.
He had worked at several schools in South Korea for five years, although the photographs of young boys engaged in sex acts were taken in Vietnam and Cambodia.
"The teaching profession is very, very vulnerable. The English-language teachers are so needed, in such demand. It is such a status thing to have an English teacher at a school," said Rosalind Prober, president of Beyond Borders, a Canadian organization working to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse.
A culture of reverence toward teachers in some of the countries where child sexual exploitation is common adds to the fears that teachers avoid close scrutiny.
And teaching, of course, puts teachers close to children.
"It's a dirty secret, if you will, that these individuals will try and go in under that sort of cover to have ready access to children," said Jamie McIntosh, executive director of International Justice Mission Canada, an organization that helps rescue children from exploitation abroad.
A number of South Asian and Central American countries in need of teachers are also known for child-sex tourism.
"Pedophiles are drawn to places where they think they can hide. They are attracted to environments where they think they can get away with it," Mr. McIntosh said.
Child-sex-crime investigators are aware of the attractiveness that an ESL job in Asia might hold for a pedophile.
"We do hear stories, complaints if you will, that some of these people have opportunity to work abroad," said Detective-Sergeant Kim Scanlan, head of the Toronto Police sex-crimes unit.
"Sometimes pedophiles set themselves up in these types of positions, specifically in countries that are vulnerable - anything that puts a pedophile closer to their interest, their fantasy to be with children," she said.
The RCMP's national child exploitation co-ordination centre is studying anecdotal reports of deviant overseas ESL teachers to see if there are valid statistics to back up concern of it being an emerging trend, said Staff Sergeant Rick Greenwood, the centre's operations manager.
As in any activity anywhere that puts adults close to children, accreditation and background checks are key, he said.
"Some agencies are very good and some less so," Staff Sgt. Greenwood said.
ESL teachers, meanwhile, worry the attention to the case makes them all look dirty.
"I fear that everyone who hears I teach English in Asia will suddenly think I'm there to diddle the kids. It makes me sick, physically sick," said one veteran teacher who asked that his name not be published.
Members of online chat groups for ESL teachers, including one frequented by Mr. Neil before he was named as a pedophile suspect, have also expressed concern.
"When you think about the tireless volunteers who give their time, it must be very hard for them - most of them are there for the right reasons," Det.-Sgt. Scanlan said.
Meanwhile, police are wondering where Mr. Neil is.
With all of the media reports internationally - receiving an unusual amount of attention in Thailand, for instance - and so many pictures of him being printed and broadcast, investigators are surprised he is still at large, leading to suggestions he may have killed himself because of the publicity.
Others suggest he may have headed to Thailand to visit one of the private cosmetic surgery clinics found in Bangkok.
"I thought he would have been found by now," said Staff Sgt. Greenwood. |
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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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| This is not exactly rocket science. Why are alcoholics drawn to bar jobs? Seems like this article is just stating the obvious. Paedophiles are bound to be drawn to occupations that involve interaction with children. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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| oldfatfarang wrote: |
| This is not exactly rocket science. Why are alcoholics drawn to bar jobs? Seems like this article is just stating the obvious. Paedophiles are bound to be drawn to occupations that involve interaction with children. |
Necrophiles are drawn to mortuary jobs, people into bestiality to pet shops, foot fetishists to shoe stores.
Once again, oldfat is right on! |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:01 am Post subject: |
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What gets me about this article in relation to the Neil case, however, is that so far as we know none of his crimes were committed against pupils. He went to Cambodia and Vietnam as a child sex tourist just like any businessman could have.
I wish the media would use this as an example of how he wasn't able to get away with it because he was and EFL teacher and too many fellow foreign English teachers knew him and were able to help Interpol track him down. Had he been a company worker who kept to himself and wasn't part of a large community in Korea his wherabouts may not have become known. |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:08 am Post subject: |
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The 2nd half of that piece reads like: "here are some opinions and idle speculation from Dave's.."
Ah, the National Post. Our own Fox News, except flammable. |
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halfmanhalfbiscuit
Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:22 am Post subject: |
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This has been 'already' subsumed as a South East Asian problem.
It can easily be brought back as a problems with foreigners in Korea issue and will be through to the election.
Boards of Education have always had a cvnt/comm-ahem!!!- outlook-no real change there.Kiddy fiddling at home?Deem it insignificant or balame it on an ethnic group ie not Koreans |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:22 am Post subject: |
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Can you even imagine the howling we'd hear on Dave's if this same thing appeared in the KH, KT or J-A Daily? |
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yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 1:02 am Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
What gets me about this article in relation to the Neil case, however, is that so far as we know none of his crimes were committed against pupils. He went to Cambodia and Vietnam as a child sex tourist just like any businessman could have.
I wish the media would use this as an example of how he wasn't able to get away with it because he was and EFL teacher and too many fellow foreign English teachers knew him and were able to help Interpol track him down. Had he been a company worker who kept to himself and wasn't part of a large community in Korea his wherabouts may not have become known. |
Well said. If this dude was some Hyundai line worker I doubt we would be where we are now in this current investigation. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 1:17 am Post subject: |
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| Personally, I felt that article was dead-on, in most respects. No, it doesn't make us look good, but what can we do? |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| There's no numbers. It looks like you have an instance and that somehow extrapolates into a crisis or something. Baseless yet delicious gossip. |
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tomwaits
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Location: PC Bong
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 3:25 am Post subject: |
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Don't blame the National Post, they are interviewing a spokesperson for a group that aims to protect children, which is legit.
The problem I have is with the person from Beyond Borders who , frankly, seems to be making this up as she goes along. Pedophiles flocking into ESL? Where is that coming from? I'd say more like people with 10 year old pot charges heading to Asia might be more accurate.  |
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ESL Milk "Everyday
Joined: 12 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 3:45 am Post subject: |
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| I can only wonder what the Koreans really think whenever they get a hold of this western sensationalist journalism. |
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cruisemonkey
Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Location: Hopefully, the same place as my luggage.
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:19 am Post subject: |
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| Pedophiles drawn to be Catholic priests, Boy Scout leaders and ESL jobs, groups warn |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:29 am Post subject: |
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WARNING: Young people interested in travel often seek international experiences and cross-cultural experiences. ESL seems to attract these types. If you meet an ESL teacher, there is a likelihood he has more interest than just his country of birth.
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Anyone living in Korea, will meet these types a dime a dozen. Pedophile culture is NOT the norm here. Most teachers here will NOT approve of that behavior - generally being young and idealistic, etc.
Honestly, I am sure most would agree with me about that. Most ESL teachers here in Korea are generally under 30 and inexperienced with the world, and this is an after college experience for many that might turn into a career for others (much like say military culture). |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:33 am Post subject: |
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| Who was who said he robbed banks because that is where the money is? |
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