Ceulen was given a 19-year sentence in absentia by a Belgian court on January 21 for the distribution of child pornography and sex offences against children. That same day, he was allegedly by neighbors, a fact that would match with Cambodian immigration records of his arrival.
The 60-year-old was placed on Interpol’s watch list but the necessary documents and requests from Belgian authorities were not received by officials in Cambodia until February 25, according to Child Protection Unit (CPU) director James McCabe .
The task force was created a week later.
“Task force ‘Echo’ was established on March 2 after information was received by the Cambodian National Police from the Belgian and Netherlands police services after they requested assistance in locating and arresting [Ceulen],” McCabe said in a phone interview this afternoon.
The task force includes members of the Ministry of Interior’s Judicial Police, Anti-Human Trafficking Police, Siem Reap Anti-Human Trafficking Police and investigators from the CPU.
“Teams were dispatched to Siem Reap, arriving on the 3rd of March, and since that date have been conducting inquiries with locals,” McCabe said.
“A variety of sources including the public, chat forums, other NGOs and police suggested the suspect was still in Siem Reap area.”
Investigations carried out by task force Echo resulted in the execution of six search warrants to find Ceulen today on “premises belonging to the suspect, businesses belonging to the suspect, and premises belonging to the suspect’s son”, McCabe said.
“As a result of these searches, although the suspect has not been sighted, valuable intelligence was gained,” he added. McCabe declined to elaborate due to the nature of the ongoing investigation.
McCabe discounted Dutch and Belgian media reports that placed Ceulen at a school no less than 150 metres from one of his residences over the weekend, saying he was last seen on “January 24 at his residence”.
According to McCabe, investigators still have reason to believe that Ceulen is in Cambodia, although Ceulen’s wife and son have returned to Belgium, where they are being questioned by Belgian police.
“If the suspect is still in Cambodia, he will be located, it is only a matter of time,” he said.
As to why it took well over a month for a warrant to be issued, McCabe said “there are … formal requests that must be made; if the formalities are not followed, it can jeopardise the outcome of the arrest”.
Kris Luyckx, a lawyer for Belgian child protection NGO Child Focus, previously that his group had to request the Belgian Prosecutor’s office forward the necessary documents to Cambodian authorities.
According to McCabe, Cambodian authorities “acted immediately and thoroughly as soon as they were able to do so and they should be commended for it”.
“Anyone with information on Pieter Ceulen should contact the Siem Reap Anti-Human Trafficking Police or the CPU Hotline: 078-959-090 and inform local police,” he added.
From=http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/police-comb-siem-reap-hunt-dutch-pedo
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