By TONY CHAVEZ
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported the interception of four American pedophiles who were barred from entering the country for being convicted sex offenders.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the passengers were all intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on separate dates since mid-September when they arrived and sought admission as tourists into the country.
Viado said the Americans were immediately excluded and boarded on the first available flight to their ports of origin.
“They were turned back pursuant to our immigration law which provides for the outright exclusion of foreigners who have been convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude,” the BI chief explained.
Last Sept. 13, BI personnel turned back at the NAIA terminal 3 70-year-old Terry Christ Petersen, who arrived aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Hongkong.
Petersen was convicted in 1992 by a court in Wisconsin on a charge of sexual assault on second degree wherein the victim is a 12-year-old child.
On Sept. 19, 71-year-old Richard Allison Boice was intercepted at the NAIA 1 after he arrived via a Japan Airlines fight from Tokyo. He was convicted in 2009 for possession of child pornography.
Intercepted at the NAIA 3 last Sept. 24 was Kevin James Bearden, 56, who flew in aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Hongkong. He was convicted in 2021 on two counts of child pornography.
The latest to be turned back was Rodney Wendell Mathis, 59, who arrived Oct. 3 via a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok at the NAIA terminal 3.
He was convicted in 1997 for engaging in lewd and lascivious acts against a 16-year-old minor.
Viado said that as a consequence of their exclusion, all four Americans were placed in the BI blacklist and banned from re-entering the Philippines.
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