Bureau of Immigration (BI) operatives have arrested a suspected American pedophile wanted by US authorities for alleged sexual exploitation of a Filipino minor.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said 69-year-old Michael Kent Clapper was nabbed last Monday in San Manuel, Pangasinan during a joint operation conducted by operatives from the bureau's Fugitive Search Unit (FSU), Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC), and Philippine National Police (PNP).
Morente said he issued a mission order for Clapper's arrest on the request of the US Embassy in Manila.
In a letter to the bureau, the embassy sought the BI's assistance in apprehending Clapper due to his "involvement in possible sexual exploitation of a minor in the Philippines."
Reports also alleged that the victim is a 12-year-old girl with whom Clapper has been in an "inappropriate relationship."
The embassy also stated that Clapper's US passport already expired, making him an undocumented alien subject to summary deportation.
"He will be deported also for being an undesirable alien as his continued presence here poses a serious risk to our Filipino children, anyone of whom could be his next victim," Morente said.
It was learned that the alien is temporarily detained at the San Miguel police headquarters pending the release of the result of his swab test for COVID-19.
If he tests negative for the virus, he will be committed to the BI Warden Facility in Bicutan, Taguig City where he will remain until he is deported.
The BI's travel database showed that Clapper arrived in the country as a tourist on March 26, 2019.