SEATTLE, March 13 (UPI) — A Seattle man suspected as a sex tourist and charged with possession of child pornography currently is at large, officials said.
King County prosecutors earlier this month filed charges against Brent Alan Rule, 65, who allegedly had child pornography in his luggage when he was arrested at Sea-Tac International Airport in November 2011 after coming home from a trip to Thailand, Seattlepi.com reported Tuesday.
Rule, 65, was arrested in November 2011 after returning from a trip to Thailand. He is now charged with possession of child pornography.
Court-filed documents show federal officials believe Rule has traveled outside the United States as a sex tourist.
“The Department of Homeland Security clearly considers the defendant as a potential sex tourism perpetrator and thus he has been stopped on numerous occasions when coming from and going to southeast Asian countries. The state has concerns the defendant will simply return to a country with less stringent protections for children to avoid prosecution in this matter,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Cecelia Gregson said.
A police officer said Homeland Security agents at first found in Rule’s luggage nude images of a girl they believed to be 12- to 15 years old. Rule was then arrested and interrogated about the photos.
Rule allegedly told agents to confiscate all his photos. He was released following the questioning, but has eluded further investigation, Seattlepi reported.
A $50,000 warrant has been issued for Rule’s arrest.
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