An Albanian court on Wednesday sentenced a British man to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing children at an orphanage in the Balkan country.

David Brown, a 57-year-old charity worker, was found guilty of sexually abusing at least two children, aged nine and 10, in the orphanage located in the central town of Elbasan, judge Geri Hoxha said.

DUBLIN, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Ireland's top Roman Catholic prelate has apologised for the 'horrific evil' of sex abuse involving thousands of children placed in the care of clerics in residential institutions.

Archbishop Sean Brady told a Saturday evening Mass for abuse victims he could not 'adequately apologise to all those who have been hurt while they were entrusted to the Church's care' over the last 70 years or more.

BANGKOK, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - A detained Canadian paedophile suspect has said nothing about allegations that he sexually abused young boys across Southeast Asia, a Thai police official said Sunday.

Christopher Paul Neil, who was arrested in Thailand on Friday following a global manhunt led by Interpol, was 'smiling and chatty' during questioning but refused to speak about the child sex allegations, the official said.

HONG KONG, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - The arrest in Thailand of a Canadian man suspected of having sex with young boys has focused international attention on a sordid industry that peddles children to paedophiles across Southeast Asia.

Grinding poverty, poor policing and no shortage of demand ensure that exploitation of children for sex thrives throughout the region.

Despite some high-profile prosecutions of child sex abusers, experts say lack of cooperation among governments is hindering efforts to keep children safe from paedophilia.

BANGKOK, Oct 20, 2007 (AFP) - A Thai court on Saturday granted a police request to detain a Canadian schoolteacher, who has been accused of sexually abusing boys across Southeast Asia, for 12 days, a police official said.

Christopher Paul Neil, 32, was arrested in Thailand on Friday after Interpol launched a rare global hunt for the man seen in 200 Internet photos showing him abusing a dozen young Asian boys.

'Police can detained him for questioning until the end of this month,' Police Lieutenant General Wimon Pao-In told AFP.

VANCOUVER, Canada, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Canadian schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing boys across Southeast Asia and arrested in Thailand Friday was a 'person of interest' for police in his native province of British Columbia, officials said.

'It appears that he was a person of interest since 2004,' Annie Linteau, a spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), told AFP.

'We're certainly interested here, but we are unable to confirm or deny that there is an ongoing investigation,' Linteau added

MONTREAL, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Canadian schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing boys across Southeast Asia and arrested in Thailand Friday was also under investigation in his native province of British Colombia, local media reports said.

Federal authorities have received complaints from residents of the Vancouver area, saying they have been victims of sexual harassment on the part of Christopher Paul Neil, CBC television reported.

But the network said no formal charges had been filed against the man.

BANGKOK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Canadian schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing boys across Southeast Asia was arrested and paraded before the cameras in Thailand Friday, ending a global manhunt sparked by a decoded digital photo.

Christopher Paul Neil, 32, tried to hide under a blue shirt as he was led in handcuffs past dozens of waiting reporters and into Thailand's national police headquarters.

He later sat in silence for about five minutes alongside police, stonefaced and wearing dark sunglasses with a white T-shirt and black nylon running pants.

BANGKOK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Canadian schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing young boys across Southeast Asia said 'he knew this day would come' as he was hauled out of his hideaway in northeastern Thailand, police said Friday.

Christopher Paul Neil, 32, only confirmed his name, age and nationality when he was arrested on Friday in Thailand's third-largest city Nakhon Ratchasima, police said.

BANGKOK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Canadian schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing young boys across Southeast Asia did not resist arrest Friday but has said almost nothing to investigators, Thai police said.

Christopher Paul Neil, 32, only confirmed his name, age and nationality when he was arrested on Friday in Thailand's third-largest city Nakhon Ratchasima, police said.

'The suspect was quiet. He wasn't agitated, he didn't say anything at all,' Lieutenant General Pongsapat Pongcharoen told reporters.

BANGKOK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - Tip-offs received from across the globe gave police the breakthrough that led to Friday's arrest of a Canadian schoolteacher accused of sexually abusing boys in Southeast Asia, Interpol said.

Christopher Paul Neil, 32, was nabbed in Thailand's third-largest city Nakhon Ratchasima following an unprecedented appeal from international police organisation Interpol for public help in finding him.

'The fact that we went to the public was the breakthrough,' Interpol detective Mick Moran told AFP.

BANGKOK, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A suspected Canadian paedophile who is the target of a global manhunt was arrested Friday in northeast Thailand, police said.

Christopher Paul Neil, 32, was captured a day after a Thai court issued a warrant for his arrest, in a search launched after police had successfully unswirled a digitally obscured photograph he had posted on the Internet.

He is accused by Interpol of sexually assaulting 12 boys and posting 200 pictures of the crimes on the Internet.

LYON, France, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - International police agency Interpol on Thursday issued an wanted persons notice on for alleged Canadian paedophile Christopher Paul Neil.

A global hunt is ongoing for Neil, also known as 'Vico', a 32-year-old teacher accused of posting pictures online of himself raping boys in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Interpol action came after a Thai court Thursday issued an arrest warrant for Neil, accusing him of sexually abusing a Thai boy who came forward after seeing a picture of the suspect in a newspaper.

LYON, France, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The international police agency Interpol issued a wanted persons notice on Thursday for alleged Canadian paedophile Christopher Paul Neil, nicknamed 'Vico.'

A global hunt is ongoing for Neil, 32, accused of posting pictures online of himself raping boys in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The police agency, headquartered in southwest France, posted on its website a copy of his passport and a reproduction of his arrival card in Bangkok on October 11.

BANGKOK, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - A Thai court Thursday issued an arrest warrant for a Canadian paedophile suspect sought by Interpol, accusing him of sexually abusing a nine-year-old Thai boy.

Lieutenant General Wimon Pao-in said the boy made his accusations against 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil after seeing the man's picture in a newspaper.

'The court granted the arrest warrant sought by Thai police, on charges of kidnapping, illegal detention, and molesting a boy under 15 years old,' Wimon told AFP.

BANGKOK, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - A suspected Canadian paedophile who is the target of a global manhunt may have sexually abused boys while he was trying to find a job teaching in Thailand, police said Thursday.

At least one 18-year-old boy has said that the suspect, 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil, sexually abused him two years ago, police Colonel Apichart Suriboonya.

PHNOM PENH, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - A Russian businessman has been arrested in Cambodia for allegedly having sex with at least six underaged girls, some as young as 12, police said Thursday.

Alexander Trofimov was seized at his home in the popular seaside town of Sihanoukville on Wednesday, said Major General Bit Kimhong, director of the Interior Ministry's anti-trafficking department.

Trofimov, 41, was arrested after his six alleged victims and their parents filed complaints, Bit Kimhong told AFP.

MADRID, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Spanish authorities said Wednesday they had arrested 30 people in a vast nationwide crackdown on child pornography.

A further 44 people who were not detained could also face charges, a spokesman for the paramilitary Civil Guard told AFP.

He said 81 homes were searched in the operation, which spanned 30 provinces.

The head of the Civil Guard, Joan Mesquida, said as many as 1,300 people could eventually face charges as part of a worldwide investigation into child pornography, the Europa Press news agency said.

SEOUL, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - South Korean police have launched a probe into a suspected Canadian pedophile wanted by Interpol and who worked in the Asian country teaching English, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as Christopher Paul Neil, left for Thailand on October 11 after spending seven years in South Korea working at schools or private institutions, a National Police Agency spokesman told AFP.

'We have launched an investigation into the record of his activity here,' the spokesman said.

BANGKOK, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Thai police were scouring the country Wednesday for a Canadian man accused of raping young boys and then posting pictures of the acts on the Internet.

Interpol has urged the suspect, 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil, to give himself up after issuing an unprecedented global appeal for help in tracking him down.

'We have alerted all our divisions -- immigration police, tourist police, metropolitan police and local units are all looking for him because now he could be anywhere in Thailand,' said police Colonel Apichart Suriboonya.

PARIS, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - French police on Friday were holding more than 140 men accused of trading child pornography on the Internet in the country's biggest crackdown yet on cyber paedophilia.

Polish police for their part said they had arrested 55 people after a swoop in coordination with their Austrian and Dutch counterparts.

During an operation launched Monday, French police and gendarmes identified 310 people thought to be swapping pornographic images and videos of pre-teen children online.

PARIS, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - French police have detained more than 130 people accused of trading child pornography on the Internet in the biggest crackdown yet against the online crime, a police officer said Friday.

During an operation launched on Monday, police and paramilitary gendarmes identified 310 people thought to be swapping pornographic images and videos of pre-teen children online.

Colonel Jean-Fran?ois Impini of the national gendarmerie said 132 men had been detained and that many more were expected to be arrested as part of operation 'Rainbow'.

PARIS, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - French police have arrested more than 300 people accused of trading child pornography on the Internet during a nationwide crackdown on suspected paedophiles, officials said Thursday.

During a four-day operation launched on Monday, police and paramilitary gendarmes identified 310 people thought to be swapping pornographic images and videos of pre-teen children online, the police said in a statement.

LYON, France, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Interpol on Monday launched an unprecedented worldwide hunt for a man who it said had posted pictures on the Internet of himself raping young boys.

The International Criminal Police Organisation, based in Lyon, France, issued the global request for assistance on its website along with a picture of the wanted suspect.

This was 'the first time the organisation has made such an appeal,' it stressed in a statement.

SYDNEY, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - A US navy sailor trapped in a paedophile sting and convicted of using the Internet to groom a young Australian girl for sex was sentenced Tuesday to a suspended jail term and ordered to be deported.

David Budd, 29, who had been taking part in joint US-Australia war games, was arrested on arrival at Sydney airport on June 23 after an online conversation with a detective posing as a 14-year-old girl.

BERLIN, Sept 28, 2007 (AFP) - The German Catholic Bishops' Conference on Friday vowed to disclose sexual abuse by priests and not to allow those found guilty of paedophilia to work with children again.

Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the president of the conference, said it is 'determined to to everything to bring sexual abuse to light' and deeply regrets the suffering of victims of abuse and of their families.

MADRID, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Spanish police said Wednesday they had smashed a network of people who downloaded child porn from the Internet, making 15 arrests nationwide.

Another 21 people are under investigation following the countrywide raids which uncovered hoards of material, including videos, DVDs, CDs and thousands of pictures.

Police began the sting, dubbed Operation Celia, last year.

ROME, Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) - Seven Indian nationals were arrested in central Italy Saturday for sexually abusing a girl and trying to force her into prostitution, police said.

The men, aged between 21 and 31, were arrested near the town of Ascoli Piceno.

Their victim was a Macedonian teenager who was 14 at the time of the alleged assaults two years ago, a police statement said.

Two Italians and two Macedonians, including an uncle of the victim, have already been arrested over the affair.

MADRID, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Police from 11 European states met Wednesday in Madrid to mull the creation of an internet filter system designed to prevent paedophiles from downloading child pornography, Spanish media reported.

The police federations from countries including Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom are seeking to win agreement from web content providers to filter content and make access to porn sites, as the prelude to eventual downloading, much more difficult.

PHNOM PENH, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - An Austrian man has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing three Cambodian teenage boys, court officials said Tuesday.

Olaf Achleitner, reported in local media as being aged 64, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, deputy court prosecutor Sok Karyal told AFP.

Achleitner, who was arrested in Cambodia for sex crimes in 2002 but released because of lack of evidence, was detained Friday after relatives of the three boys filed complaints with the police, Sok Karyal said.

SAARBRUECKEN, Germany, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - A German court on Friday acquitted 12 people who were accused of murdering and repeatedly raping a five-year-old in the backroom of a bar.

The court in the city of Saarbruecken near the French border ruled that there was insufficient evidence that the victim, known as Pascal, had been raped and killed by the defendants.

The owner of the establishment, 54-year-old Christa W., had been accused of charging her clients about 10 euros (14 dollars) each to sexually assault the child.

NUREMBERG, Germany, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - A German priest with a previous conviction for paedophilia has been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a choir boy, prosecutors in Nuremberg said on Friday.

The 39-year-old priest allegedly repeatedly abused the boy between 2003 and 2006, according to justice authorities in the southern city.

He had been found guilty of abusing two youths eight years ago, but was allowed to resume his duties as a priest by the diocese of Regensburg after he underwent therapy.

BARCELONA, Spain, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Spanish police have detained a 33-year-old woman who allegedly tried to prostitute her two-year-old daughter at a brothel, police said Wednesday.

The unidentified woman was arrested in Sitges outside Barcelona on Monday after the brothel's owner told police she had offered her child for sex in exchange for cash.

The woman, who also has a seven-year-old son, was in possession of cocaine at the time of her arrest.

WASHINGTON, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - As France reels from a child sex crime that has seen President Nicolas Sarkozy call for chemical castration for offenders, a US expert has warned against excessive and ill-advised punishments.

'Sex offenses are about power and control over someone more vulnerable. You don't need a penis to be a sex offender,' Sara Totonchi of the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights told AFP.

'Many sexual offenses involve indecent touching. So are we going to chop off their hands?'

PARIS, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - A French doctor has admitted prescribing Viagra to a convicted paedophile charged with raping a young boy, in a case that prompted President Nicolas Sarkozy Monday to announce tough new measures for child sex offenders.

Returning from a two-week vacation in the United States, Sarkozy said convicted paedophiles would have to submit to a medical examination at the end of their jail terms to determine whether they still pose a danger to children, and if so they would be sent to a special hospital to open in Lyon by 2009.

LILLE, France, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - A doctor in northern France has admitted prescribing the anti-impotency drug Viagra to a convicted paedophile charged with the rape of a five-year-old boy, a local prosecutor said Monday.

The doctor who worked at the Caen prison told police that he was not given access to his patient's criminal records when he prescribed the drug in June, according to sources close to the case.

SYDNEY, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - A US navy sailor allegedly trapped in a paedophile sting faces up to 12 years in jail after pleading guilty Monday to using the Internet to groom a 14-year-old Australian girl for sex.

David Budd, 28, who had been taking part in joint US-Australia war games in northern Australia was arrested on arrival at Sydney airport on June 23 after an online conversation with a detective posing as a young girl.