By J.R. Breen
Contributing Writer
A former British detective is on a one-man mission to shake both foreign and Korean child sex offenders out of Korea - because he says the government isn't capable of doing it on their own.
Anthony Hegarty, 45, claims inadequate screening means Korea has become an attractive safe haven for pedophiles.
He has set up a non-profit organization - called Safe Schools - in a bid to collate information on child sex offenders trying to access children in Korea.
"Ninety percent of pedophiles do not have criminal records. (Written letters to prove innocence) would not show cautions or warnings, a method by which many such offenders are now dealt with," said Hegarty, who lives on a farm in Daegu with his Korean wife.
"We hope to reduce the risk through thorough background screening and providing education to parents and employers," Hegarty said. "We also use our resources to track offenders in the wider Asia region who could essentially target Korean children."
Safe Schools, established in Korea, is an online database of information on child sex offenders regularly updated by new research. It has employees working around the globe gathering information.
Numerous children disappear in Korea every year, and child sex offenders play a part in this, according to Hegarty.
A former member of the London police force, he came to Korea nine years ago to write a textbook to help Korean police with the English language.
Hegarty decided to act while he was assisting in a search for a missing British student in Cambodia.
He said he discovered a network of pedophiles "who were advising their members on where they could seek job opportunities in the region with children. Korea was the top destination."
In Korea Hegarty entered into negotiations with the British embassy in Seoul and the Foreign Office in London, as well as other resident embassies, to try and create a database of pedophiles across the world. After thwarted efforts he decided to "go it alone," and establish Safe Schools.
When contacted, the British embassy officially stated, "We are aware of (Hegarty's) concerns and have provided some assistance to him in making contact with the relevant Korean and British authorities. The U.K. takes this issue very seriously and encourages international cooperation and a coordinated approach at domestic level. We also have a duty to ensure that the many English teachers who come to Korea are not unfairly labeled as potential pedophiles and that measures introduced to screen teachers are applied in a non-discriminatory manner."
Hegarty says he consistently wrote the Immigration Bureau about faults in their system of preventing pedophiles' entry into Korea, and that he wished Safe Schools could assist them.
Having had no success he thought the arrest of Canadian pedophile Christopher Neil in 2007 - found to be teaching English to children in Seoul - would kick them into action.
"I felt quite relieved as I believed now they would listen. But Instead of a measured response there was this massive knee-jerk reaction," he said.
Measures put in place to screen people entering the country with E2 teaching visas primarily involved providing a letter stating they did not have a criminal record - something with which Hegarty finds fault.
"The letters would not reveal if an individual was on the sex offender's register and the checks did not extend to international schools, or those on marriage F2 visas, as well as many other visas which allow individuals to work with children."
The result, says Hegarty, is that "Korea has become more attractive to pedophiles."
Hegarty said that he has met with the Immigration Service on two occasions, the latest being in December of last year.
However, immigration officers are not prepared to work with Safe Schools.
"We don't think we need to work with them because we have our own measures to prevent pedophiles. If we detect anyone who does any bad things we will place them on our watch-list," Immigration Services spokesman Ahn Kyu-seok said.
Although Hegarty is the only member of Safe Schools in Korea, he says he is close to establishing a committee that would bring expertise on relevant subjects, such as international law, child psychology and criminology.
"Right now we are gathering like-minded individuals to form an advisory committee. I have some very interested people, to include a number of Korean doctors," Hegarty said. "I have done my absolute best to work with government departments here but they have shown absolutely no interest."