Interpol enlists public to identify paedophile

INTERPOL sought public help yesterday in identifying a suspected paedophile, revealing a technique to unscramble digitally altered images to show the face of a man seen in internet photos sexually abusing young boys in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Specialists succeeded in producing identifiable images of the man from the original pictures, where his face was a digitally blurred whirl, the international police organisation said.

Anders Persson, a Swedish police officer who oversees Interpol’s database of images of child abuse, said releasing the photos sent “a quite clear message” to criminals that they can be identified through web postings.

He declined to detail how specialists unblurred the photos.

“There were several attempts to clear the face. We are sure that you can’t get better pictures and the people in his neighbourhood — family, friends, colleagues, whatever — they will recognise him.”

Interpol said 12 different young boys appeared in about 200 original photographs. One picture showed the name of a hotel in Vietnam, but police checks of the guest register turned up no clues.

Cambodian police recognised locations in other photos.

Interpol, headquartered in Lyon in south-east France, posted four reconstructed photos of the man on its website, along with an original image where his face was blurred.

Mr Persson said he personally had opposed making the photos public, because it demonstrated to criminals that police can now unblur pictures. But that consideration and the risk that the man could face public humiliation or violence now that he is recognisable were outweighed by the desire to protect other children from abuse.

The photos by German specialists showed a white man who looked in his 30s, with uncombed short brown hair. One photo showed him wearing glasses; in another he was smiling.