Interpol have released a picture of a suspected paedophile who is said to have abused several young Asian boys and put hundreds of pictures of the act on the internet.

The man, whose name, nationality and location are unknown, is said to feature in approximately 100 images which are believed to have been taken in Southeast Asia and depict the sexual abuse of at least three boys aged between six and ten years old.

The first pictures of the man were originally discovered by police in Norway in March 2006. Despite a huge search by authorities across the world, Interpol have not been able to find him and so have published his picture in the hope that a member of the public will recognise him.

There are a series of pictures of the middle-aged, white, blonde haired man. Agency officials said: “He must be between 50 and 70. We have no idea of where he is or his country of origin although he seems to come from a Western country, North America, Europe or Australia.”

Ronald K. Noble, secretary-general of Interpol, said: “The law enforcement community around the world has done all it can to find this man who clearly presents a danger to young children, and we are now asking the public to help identify this predator and protect other potential victims from abuse.”

It is only the second time that the Lyon-based agency has appealed for the public’s help in identifying a suspect thought to have been involved in abusing children.

Mr Noble said that last year information provided by the public helped identify and locate a Canadian man who was arrested in Thailand in October and is now in jail facing child abuse charges.

He added: “We hope that people around the world will again play a vital role in tracing this man who could otherwise continue to sexually abuse young children.”

The affair came to light in March 2006 after the discovery of hundreds of pedophile images in the computer of a Norwegian man. The three boys featured in some 800 shots, of which 100 showed the man Interpol is seeking to identify.

Yves Rolland, an Interpol official, said the photos were “typical of pedophiles frequenting sexual tourism hotspots in South Asia, especially Thailand and Cambodia.”

When Interpol recieved the pictures from Norwegian police they sent the images to its global network of experts to try and identify the man.

The photographs were also entered into Interpol’s Child Abuse Image Database (ICAID) for a digital comparison of images received and stored in ICAID from around the world.

To date, around 800 images in this series, all featuring the same victims and locations, have been identified.

Following the success of identifying the Canadian man Interpol’s General Assembly last year approved a resolution empowering the organization to publish information to request the public’s assistance in child sex abuse investigations.

Kristin Kvigne, Assistant Director of Interpol's Trafficking in Human Beings unit, said: “Again, it was a carefully considered decision to publish this second man’s picture in a public appeal. Our duty as law enforcement officers is to protect children and we believe this appeal, codenamed Operation IDent, will help us do that. While these images were only discovered two years ago, we believe the photographs were taken between April 2000 and May 2001 so clearly this man will be older than he appears in the pictures.”

Anyone with information about the man’s identity and location should contact their local police.

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