LOS ANGELES
A federal grand jury indicted a resident of Montrose Wednesday on charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and sex trafficking of a minor, federal officials announced Wednesday.
Paul Alan Shapiro, 69, was originally indicted on April 22, 2015, on charges relating to his travel to Thailand and illicit sexual conduct with minor boys.
According to the indictment, in February 2010, Shapiro traveled from Los Angeles to Thailand, where Shapiro paid minors as young as 14 years old small amounts of local currency in order to engage in various sex acts with them. Shapiro also allegedly took photographs of himself engaging in sexually explicit conduct with the boys.
“Child predators cannot flee f United States in the hope of having a safe haven for their criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “To protect the most vulnerable among us, my office will pursue Americans who seek to exploit children in other countries.”
“This indictment should serve as a warning to sexual predators who mistakenly believe they can escape justice by exploiting children overseas,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations, Los Angeles. “There is no tolerance for the sexual abuse of foreign children by our citizens, and HSI will work closely with our law enforcement counterparts throughout the world to ensure these criminals face justice.”
The Pasadena Star newspaper reported that the Thai newspaper, Pattaya Mail, stated that Shapiro was arrested in Thailand in 2012 after being allegedly caught in the midst of a lewd act with a 13-year-old boy in a mall restroom.
He told investigator’s he’d purchased the services of the boy for 300 baht, or about $8.50, the Pattaya Mail reported at the time.
Shapiro received a royal pardon in Thailand last year so that he could be deported back to the United States to face charges, according to the newspaper.
The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.