QUEBEC CITY – A retired Quebec City bureaucrat is in a Philippines jail after four girls under the age of 12 were allegedly found in his motel room.
Local news reports said Levis Talbot, who already had a 2004 conviction for sexual exploitation, was picked up on the southern Philippines island of Cebu. He could be charged with human trafficking and violating the rights of children, say news reports.
Authorities found four young girls, aged between 9 and 11 years of age, during the arrest, according to the media reports.
Police also arrested the girls’ mother and grandmother for letting the children into the room, reports say.
The same two women called police, but only after receiving 20 Philippine pesos instead of the 100 pesos they had demanded, say reports.
ABS-CBN news says one of the girls told police they were just watching TV in the motel room and that the suspect didn’t touch them. They were nonetheless taken away to be examined by doctors and interviewed by social services.
The ABS-CBN report says it’s illegal in the Philippines for an adult to bring children into a motel room, even if the youngsters aren’t touched.
Talbot, 73, has a prior conviction in Canada for exploitation and sexual interference. He served 15 months for the offenses.
He once worked for Quebec’s environment department as a water-quality director.
Talbot had also campaigned strongly against drunk driving after one of his sons was struck and killed by a drunk driver in 1998.
Talbot has six children who he adopted from Colombia. (Nicolas Saillant, QMI Agency. With files from Brian Daly.)
Link:http://www.torontosun.com/2015/04/10/retired-quebec-bureaucrat-nabbed-with-girls-in-motel-room-in-philippines
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