A CANADIAN national convicted of sex crimes against Cambodian children has unrestricted freedom in his native country, according to a report from The Canadian Press. Orville Mader was arrested by Canadian officials in 2007 at Vancouver International Airport, shortly after leaving Thailand, where authorities had issued an arrest warrant on child sex allegations. The same year, the Canadian government issued a restraining order preventing Mader from contacting children or using the internet, but those restrictions have not been renewed.

Reports in the Canadian media state that Mader served time in a Cambodian prison in 2004, but was eventually acquitted on charges of debauchery. In 2007, he was convicted in absentia to 15 years jail on child sex charges.

Documents obtained by the British Columbia provincial court stated there is “evidence of sexual activity with male children under 14 in e-mails exchanged in 2003 and 2004 in Cambodia”.

Bith Kimhong, director of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, said he couldn’t recall Mader’s case, but that the government would put him on “a blacklist as a dangerous paedophile” if Canada forwards on  his case file. The Canadian embassy in Bangkok declined to comment yesterday.