American convicted of child abuse to be deported by PH immigration bureau

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested an American who was convicted in the United States of abusing a child and then violated his parole by fleeing to the Philippines.

Immigration Officer-in-Charge Siegfred Mison said Stephen Rodden, who was convicted by a US court for “continuous sexual abuse of a child,” would be deported upon the issuance by the BI Board of commissioners of an order for his summary deportation.

“We will likewise put him in our blacklist so he cannot return here and pose a risk to our Filipino children, or to anyone who could be his next victim,” Mison said in a statement.

Mison said his men from the BI Fugitive Search Unit nabbed Rodden, 51, in Makati City on Aug. 31, after he violated his parole in the US by fleeing to the Philippines.

The arresting agents reported that Rodden could not present his passport when he was arrested in his home along Mockingbird St., Barangay Rizal, in Makati City, Mison said.

The immigration chief added that American was considered as an undocumented alien since his passport had already expired.

Mison said Rodden was arrested upon the request of the US Embassy, which informed the bureau about his record as a convicted child molester.

The embassy informed the BI that a Board of Parole in California issued a warrant of arrest against Rodden on March 13, 2012.

The same board also suspended his parole upon learning that he violated by fleeing from the United States.