Accused US child molester arrested in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, May 3: A US man accused of raping his daughter and putting the video on the Internet has been arrested in Hong Kong, US and Hong Kong authorities said.

Kenneth Freeman, 44, a former sheriff's deputy from Washington state, was on separate lists of most wanted fugitives kept by the US Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The video of Freeman and his young daughter was one of the most widely downloaded child pornography videos in recent years, US law enforcement officials said.

Freeman was arrested yesterday at Lok Ma Chau, a checkpoint along Hong Kong's land border with mainland China.

''On his way to Hong Kong, immigration officials discovered he was a wanted person and contacted police. Police took him back to the station,'' a Hong Kong police spokeswoman said today.

''He tried to resist arrest and four of our police officers were injured in the process.'' An extradition treaty exists between the United States and Hong Kong, which was signed in 1996 and has remained in force after the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997.

The US consulate in Hong Kong declined to say when Freeman would be extradited.

The arrest was based on a formal request by the U.S. State Department.

Freeman had been charged with child rape in Washington state and was released on bond in December 2005. He fled the country after federal charges were brought in early 2006 and has been the subject of a worldwide manhunt since then.

Officials from the Marshals Service said Freeman, a competitive bodybuilder and computer expert, was believed to be living in Suzhou in eastern China and had been working for a US-based firm.

China and the United States do not have an extradition treaty but when the Chinese were informed about Freeman they agreed to help, the US officials said.

They said US investigators learned in late April that Freeman intended to travel to Hong Kong.

The officials said that the treaty with Hong Kong would allow Freeman to face extradition proceedings so he can be returned to the United States to stand trial.

Reuters>