A confessed US paedophile, among the FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives, was arrested in Bangkok yesterday and had undergone plastic surgery to disguise his identity.
After his arrest, Eric Franklin Rosser (49) was paraded in handcuffs in front of the media, and photographed sitting behind a desk stacked with evidence, including pornographic books and videotapes.
Rosser, from Syracuse, New York, remained silent during the press conference. He was dressed in a neatly pressed white shirt, and sported a goatee with his hair cut short around a balding pate.
Thai police said the former concert pianist had been in England, France, the Netherlands, and other countries, before arriving in Bangkok, where he was training to be an English language teacher. He hoped to get a job tutoring children.
He returned to Thailand two months ago despite jumping bail in Bangkok last year when he faced trial for possession of child pornography and lewd behaviour. Thai police said he had since had liposuction and cosmetic surgery to his face to disguise his identity.
"I'm not the evil man everyone thinks I am. I love Thailand, that's why I'm back here again," a handcuffed Rosser said yesterday.
The US is seeking Rosser's extradition. He was originally arrested in Bangkok last year after police raided his apartment and found hundreds of explicit photographs and videos of girls who appeared to be younger than 15.
In March, 2000, he was indicted by an Indianapolis grand jury on six counts of producing and distributing child pornography, including a video that showed him having sex with a girl said to be 11.
The FBI offered a reward of up to $35, for information leading to Rosser's arrest, describing him as an admitted child molester who may have suicidal tendencies.
At the time of his initial arrest, Rosser had been working as a pianist at Bangkok's luxury Oriental Hotel and ran a music school at his home where he gave lessons to children from prominent families.
He subsequently admitted in an interview with a Thai newspaper to frequent indecent acts with children and claimed he had lived a tortured life because of it.
Despite saying he would face his punishment, Rosser jumped bail two months after his arrest and fled Thailand. Thai police said he then travelled abroad before returning to Thailand using a fake US passport in the name of Peter Alexander Hill.
Rosser has a Thai wife and a two-year-old daughter. He told police he had returned to Thailand to visit his daughter.