Press Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Hawaii
PJKK Federal Building (808) 541-2850
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 6-100 FAX (808) 541-2958
Honolulu, Hawaii 96850
For Immediate Release
Contact: Elliot Enoki or ICE Public Affairs (949) 360-3096
September 8, 2009
HAWAII MAN ACCUSED OF ILLICIT
SEXUAL CONDUCT WITH CAMBODIAN MINOR
HONOLULU, HAWAII – A Big Island man accused of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor after traveling to Cambodia made his initial appearance in federal court here today. Richard David Mitchell, 61, of Kamuela, on the island of Hawaii, is charged in a criminal complaint filed on August 26, 2009 in United States District Court in Honolulu. According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, witnesses reported seeing Mitchell engaging in sex acts with a 12-year-old girl in August 2008 at a curbside in Cambodia.
Ed Kubo, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that federal law prohibits United States citizens and permanent resident aliens from traveling in foreign commerce and engaging in sexual acts with a person under the age of 16 if those acts would have been prohibited under federal law in the United States, or with a person under the age of 18 if those acts were commercial. Mitchell is being prosecuted under those provisions. U. S. Attorney Kubo said that federal law also prohibits foreign travel for the purpose of engaging in such acts. The PROTECT Act, which went into effect on April 30, 2003, substantially strengthened the federal laws related to predatory crimes involving children outside the United States by adding new crimes and increasing sentences.
Mitchell was initially arrested in August 2008 by the Cambodian National Police on local charges related to the same incident. He remained in the custody of Cambodian authorities until his removal to Hawaii. The defendant returned to Hawaii Saturday following his formal removal from Cambodia. Upon his arrival at Honolulu International Airport, he was taken into custody by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. At today’s hearing, United States Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren ordered Mitchell held without bond pending a detention hearing.
The charges against Mitchell are part of stepped up efforts by ICE and the Department of Justice to identify and prosecute “sex tourists” who travel to Cambodia to engage in sex acts with children. “Our federal laws seek to protect children in other countries who are preyed upon by sexual predators from the United States,” said U. S. Attorney Kubo. “Anyone who travels to another country to sexually abuse a child should expect aggressive prosecution in the United States and a long prison sentence.”
"Child sex tourism is a scourge: adults preying on the young and vulnerable to satisfy their dark sexual desires,” said Wayne Wills, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Hawaii. “There can be no place for the abuse of foreign children by our citizens. ICE will do everything in its power to vindicate the rights of those children, no matter how destitute they are or how far they live from our shores.”
Mitchell is the fourth American arrested by ICE in the past week for sexually exploiting minors in Cambodia. On August 31, three West Coast men were taken into custody by ICE at Los Angeles International Airport following their removal from Cambodia. Authorities say the four cases are the direct result of the unprecedented cooperation among U.S. authorities, the Cambodian government and non-governmental organizations to target American child sex tourists in Cambodia.
“These prosecutions clearly demonstrate to the Cambodian people that the United States will not tolerate this type of abuse,” said Carol Rodley, the U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia. “Not only do these cases signal to the Cambodian victims our commitment to justice, but they also act as a powerful deterrent for those individuals who are contemplating traveling to Cambodia to engage in illegal sexual activity with minors.”
If indicted and convicted of the charge in the complaint, Mitchell faces up to 30 years imprisonment. Charges in a complaint or indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case resulted from an ICE investigation. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Amy Olson and Trial Attorney Anitha Ibrahim from the Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
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