A Briton who had been convicted in his country of sex offenses in 2009 had been arrested in Rizal province and has been set for deportation, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday, Dec. 7.
The BI identified the foreigner as Peter Joseph Wheeler, 44, who was arrested last Dec. 2 in Taytay, Rizal by agents of the BI's Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU). He has been detained at the BI's facility in Taguig City.
“Sex offenders are not welcome in the Philippines. These individuals with a criminal past, convicted of crimes, especially those committed against children do not deserve the privilege to stay in the Philippines,” Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.
He said he issued the mission order for Wheeler's arrest "after after we received information that he is a convicted sex offender who poses a threat to our women and children."
In 2009, the commissioner said that Wheeler was convicted and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment for making, possessing and distributing indecent photographs of children.
The court's decision on Wheeler required him to enlist in the United Kingdom’s registry of sex offenders, Tansingco also said.