Interpol launched Tuesday a rare public appeal for information on a man suspected of sexually abusing at least three boys. From Paris, Lisa Bryant has more on the manhunt launched by the France-based police agency.
This is only the second time that Interpol has launched a public appeal on information about a suspected pedophile. The last one led to the arrest of 32-year-old Canadian Christopher Paul Neil just 11 days after being issued last October.
This time around, the police agency, based in Lyon, France, is looking for a man aged between 50 and 70- years-old.
Interpol also posted several pictures of the suspect - a balding, white-haired man on its Web site. The photos, which were apparently taken several years ago, where part of several hundred found by police in Norway showing the man abusing the boys in various locations.
Hugo Brady, a security specialist at the Center for European Reform in London, says Interpol has made strides in recent years to move out of its traditional focus on organized crime and terrorism and tackle other issues troubling its member states. He says pedophilia is one of them.
"Pedophilia, ever since that issue has become extremely current right back into the '90s there was cooperation on those sorts of issues," said Hugo Brady. "Pedophilia, pornography, Internet - that sort of stuff. It's difficult for Interpol. It's not strictly organized crime. It's a hard area to define."
Besides pedophilia, Brady says Interpol is also targeting other new areas, including narcotics and human trafficking.