French paedophile suspect seized in Bali

French paedophile suspect seized in Bali

A Frenchman wanted in his homeland on child sex charges has been
arrested in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, police said on
Thursday.

Michel Heller was seized at a bungalow in Bunutan village in
the east of the island on Wednesday, said Sri Harmiti of the Bali
police's information office. Police said a young boy was in the
house at the time.

Harmiti said the arrest was made following an Interpol-backed
request by French authorities to track down and apprehend the
suspect.

Heller is wanted in the southwestern French town of Grasse,
near Nice, for alleged paedophilia, according to a French police
source. He has been in Indonesia for five years, where he is
suspected to have committed similar acts.

Bali police say they tracked the Frenchman, born in 1949, down
to Lovina, a popular beach on the island's northern coast. He was
later followed to Bunutan, where he was found in the company of
the young boy, whose age was not given.

Harmiti said the suspect was being detained at Bali's police
headquarters in the main city of Denpasar.

Bali and several other Indonesian islands, including
neighboring Lombok, have reputations as havens for foreign
paedophiles and child sex networks.

A former Australian diplomat arrested for suspected
paedophilia last year, hanged himself in his cell in May after he
was jailed 13 years on child sex offenses. -- AFP