Gov’t deporting British child sex offender

Bureau of Immigration. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ ALEXIS CORPUZ

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is preparing to deport a British man who fled the United Kingdom (UK) after he was convicted there for attempting to have sex with a minor two years ago.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said Mark Christopher Wyatt, 42, was arrested last Dec. 8 by members of the bureau’s fugitive search unit (FSU) at his house on Quezon Avenue in Camiling, Tarlac.

Morente said Wyatt fled the UK in violation of his parole or for “breaching a supervision order and notification requirements.”

Morente said “being a convicted child sex offender, his continued presence here poses a real threat to Filipino children, anyone of whom could be his next victim.”

According to BI intelligence officer and FSU chief Bobby Raquepo, Wyatt arrived in the country a little more than a year ago.

He said the BI put Wyatt on the bureau’s wanted list in May after the UK’s National Crime Agency, through the British embassy in Bangkok, alerted the BI of his presence.

Wyatt was convicted in March 2015 for attempting meet a 16 year old after grooming and sending her pictures of his genitals.

“He would go back to prison to serve his suspended sentence because he left the UK during the period he was under supervision,” Raquepo said.

Wyatt reportedly left the UK on Nov. 3 last year after claiming to police authorities there that he had a girlfriend in the Philippines. He had a return ticket dated Dec. 2, 2016, but was a no-show for his return flight. /cbb