newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-limole0510,0,2631963.story

Newsday.com
Suffolk au pair arrested in UK molestation case
BY SUSANA ENRIQUEZ

susana.enriquez@newsday.com

7:39 PM EDT, May 9, 2008

A man who is wanted in the United Kingdom for sexually abusing at least five children was arrested by American immigration officials in Shoreham, where he was working as an au pair, an official said Friday.

After receiving a report from the International Criminal Police Organization, Immigration Customs Enforcement agents tracked down Stuart Harris, 27, at the home and arrested him Thursday night for being in the country illegally, said ICE spokesman Michael Keegan.

The family he worked for was not identified.

In September 2007, a 10-year-old British boy scout accused Harris of sexually abusing him. Soon afterward, at least four others made similar accusations, law enforcement officials said.

South Wales police had interviewed Harris and had seized several of his computers for forensic examination. But in January, he fled to the United States to avoid prosecution, officials said.

Harris overstayed his visa by about one month.

Immigration officials will be conducting their own investigation to determine whether Harris abused any of the children he was caring for, Keegan said.

At the home in Shoreham, immigration agents seized documents, identification cards, computers, DVDs, and other electronic devices that belong to Harris for forensic analysis.

Harris is being held in a detention facility in Manhattan. He will appear before an immigration judge at a later date for deportation proceedings, Keegan said.

Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi ... 1963.story