Sex attacker escapes prison in chopper

A CULT leader jailed for sex attacks on children escaped in a helicopter from a prison on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion yesterday, the regional administration said.

Juliano Verbard, who was serving a 15-year term for rapes and sex assaults on children, and two of his jailed followers were hauled on board a chopper hijacked by three accomplices, said senior official Jean-Francois Moniotte.

“All our search procedures have been put into action to find them,” said Moniotte, who is chief of staff to Reunion’s prefect, the central government’s representative and police chief on the island.