Catching American Sex Offenders Overseas

Christian law professor calls for federal international mandated reporting law.

 the elderly wife of a low-level missionary at a remote Christian hospital and elementary school in the developing world.

By happenstance, you witness the highly esteemed chief physician repeatedly spending long hours alone with a young girl in a private area of the mission compound. You suspect child sexual abuse and sound the alarm, but no one believes you. Your colleagues shun and ostracize you until you leave the mission field. Years later, you discover your suspicions were right and the physician is convicted for sexual abuse and sentenced to years in prison.

This is the fictitious scenario that former child sexual abuse prosecutor, Boz Tchividjian, spells out in a new law review article, “Catching American Sex Offenders Overseas: A proposal for a federal international mandated reporting law.”

Tchividjian, founder of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), believes that many active sexual abusers overseas will continue to go undetected until there is a federal international mandated reporting law just like there is on the books in all 50 US states.

The size of the sexual abuse problem overseas is staggeringly large. Each year, 62,000 American citizens visit Asia alone in order to sexually victimize children in Asia, according to researcher Karen D. Breckenridge.

It’s a federal crime under the Protect Act for any American to sexually abuse a child in a foreign land. Under the law, there is no distinction between a so-called sex tourist who pays for illicit relations and a career missions worker who might abuse a child when the opportunity arises.

The stateside domestic mandated reporting laws have led to many criminal convictions that otherwise might never have occurred because state law required that the authorities be notified.

In an online commentary, Tchividjian wrote, “When Americans leave this country, they currently have no legal obligation to report suspected child abuse. As a result, it is difficult for US authorities to identify, investigate, and prosecute Americans who go overseas to sexually victimize children.

“Leaving the country should never exempt citizens from protecting children by requiring them to report other citizens who violate US law. Children who are overseas are no less valuable than those in the United States.”

In an email interview, Tchividjian, a professor at the Liberty University School of Law, said, “There is little doubt that this law will result in the increased reporting of suspected child sexual abuse of American citizens overseas. Though this law most likely won’t deter child sexual abuse offenders, it will undoubtedly motivate others to report them or otherwise face criminal penalties.”

In late April, all members of the House received copies of the proposal. “We have already received a positive response from a congressman from California who informed us that his staff will begin working on the issue immediately,” Tchividjian said. “I am very hopeful that this proposal will bring members of both parties together to speak with one voice on the need to protect children and apprehend those who hurt them.”

Tchividjian's other comments:

Do victim advocacy groups support this idea?

"Rose Morris of No Secrets Between Us has also endorsed this proposal and is working to connect us with key child protection proponents in Congress. We have also received the support of MK Safety Net—an organization that advocates on behalf of missionary kids who have been sexually and physically abused on the mission field."

Would the new law require special funding for enforcement?

"With United States citizens making up approximately 25 percent of those engaged in the commercial sexual exploitation of children, there is little doubt that this law will require an increased number of ICE (the agency within DHS that investigates such overseas offenses) agents due to the likely increase in reports."

What's the difference between so-called sex tourism and the sexual abuse that might occur on a missionary compound?

"According to DHS, sex tourism includes anyone who goes overseas and sexually abuses a child, regardless of whether they go for that sole purpose or whether they victimize a child while serving as a missionary or any other type of work."