Bureau of Immigration (BI) operatives arrested in Pampanga an American pedophile, convicted sex offender and wanted by federal authorities in Florida, USA, for engaging in child pornography and illegal gun possession.
Samuel Arthur Thompson, 49, was apprehended last week at his residence in Angeles City.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime H. Morente issued a warrant for his arrest upon the request of the US embassy in Manila.
BI fugitive search unit (FSU) chief Bobby Raquepo said Thompson is now detained at the BI jail in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, and will be deported for being an undesirable and undocumented alien as his passport had already been revoked by the US State Department.
According to the US Embassy, Thompson is subject of an outstanding arrest warrant issued last month by the US District Court in Florida for possession of child pornographic materials and a firearm.
In 1998, a court in Alabama convicted and sentenced Thompson to one-year imprisonment for sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy.
A check of the BI’s travel database showed that Thompson fled to Manila last July 29 after learning that the Florida court had ordered his arrest. (Jun Ramirez)
