Child Sponsor Charged With Sexual Abuse

A Canadian man arrested last month in Vancouver, Canada, on 16 charg­es of sexual assault and torture sponsored children in World Vi­sion International-Cam­bodia projects, according to the Christ­ian aid organization’s local office.

But the office said none of those children were harmed during his visits to Cambodia. The Van­couver Sun newspaper, however, reported that Donald Bakker, 40, did find victims in the region.

Canadian police found videotapes they say show Bakker performing brutal sex acts on more than 50 prostitutes and molesting at least nine children in South­east Asia, The Sun reported.

Bakker is not being charged in Canada for the assaults on children, crimes that police told The Sun were committed in a foreign country, outside their jurisdiction.

However, Canadian police said they requested the assistance of Interpol, the international police agency, in locating the child victims in an unnamed Southeast Asian country.

A World Vision statement iss­ued Friday said that after questioning sponsored children, their families and the NGO’s staff, no indications were found that children in its projects had been abused. Bak­ker was always accompanied by staff while in the company of sponsored children, as World Vision policy dictates, the statement said.

Spokeswoman Anita Dodds said Monday that it was good to see her organization’s protective mechanisms had worked, but troubling that Bakker had molested other children.

Un Sokunthea, chief of the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Traf­ficking Police, said she was un­aware of Bakker’s case, but her department would cooperate with Canadian authorities and Interpol.

Canadian Ambassador Stefanie Beck could not comment be­cause she was out of the country, an em­bassy staff member said Monday.

Bakker was arrested Dec 2 in a Vancouver park as he emerged from bushes with a video camera and a victim staggering behind him, The Sun reported. (Add­ition­al reporting by Kuch Naren)

It also said Bakker used electrical cords and metal clips as torture implements.

(Additional reporting by Kuch Naren)