Aussie-RI police unite on pedophile case

Aussie-RI police unite on pedophile case

Jamie Tarabay
Associated Press
Sydney, Australia

Australian authorities are cooperating with Indonesian police
over a former Australian embassy worker detained on pedophilia
allegations, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday,
defending police against criticism that they did not act earlier
in the case.

William Stuart Brown, 51, the former embassy official, was
arrested in the eastern Bali town of Karangasem on Jan. 5 over
accusations that he sexually abused two boys, aged 15 and 13, on
at least two occasions.

Indonesian police said on Sunday they could have prevented the
alleged abuse if Australian authorities had given them more
information about the suspect.

But Downer said Australian Federal Police couldn't act without
sufficient evidence on Brown, who has not been charged with any
offense.

"The federal police have been investigating him and keeping an
eye on him for quite some time, and they have been cooperating
with the Indonesian police," Downer told Australian Broadcasting
Corp. radio on Monday. He did not elaborate on the nature of the
cooperation.

Brown lived in Canberra before moving to Indonesia eight years
ago to teach English. He also worked at the Australian embassy in
Jakarta from 1982-1984 for an Australian government aid group,
said Downer's spokesman Chris Kenny.

The Australian Federal Police first passed information to
Indonesian authorities about Brown's alleged pedophile activity
in 1996, a federal police spokeswoman said on Monday on condition
of anonymity.

"We did assist them with investigations into Brown, who was at
that time a resident of Indonesia," she said.

Brown came to the attention of the federal police during
efforts to enforce a law aimed at combatting sex tourism, but
there had been insufficient evidence to charge him. However, the
police passed information on Brown to an inquiry into allegations
of organized pedophilia within the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade (DFAT).

That report examined 15 allegations against 10 DFAT officers
relating to incidents between 1975 and 1996, and found the
department mishandled two cases in the early 1980s.

It is a federal crime in Australia to organize child sex tours
overseas. Those convicted face a maximum sentence of 17 years
imprisonment. Since the legislation was introduced in 2002, 12
people have been convicted.