Seven Americans, who had been convicted of sex crimes against children in their country, have been barred from entering the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.
“They were all turned away and boarded on the next available flight to their ports of origin,” said BI Officer-in-Charge Joel Anthony Viado in a statement.
“And as a consequence of their exclusion, they were included in our blacklist and banned from entering the Philippines,” he added.
Viado identified the seven Americans as Dustin Patrick Auvil, 57, Daniel Russel Eoff, 34, Javier Alvarado, 39, Michael Allen Turner, 41, Thorin Wall, 41, Todd Lawrence Burchett, 41, and William Emil Wanket, 40.
The BI said that Burchett and Wanket were denied entry upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Sept 4. from Taiwan and Sept. 10 from Guam, respectively.
It said that Burchett was found to have been convicted in 2014 for gross sexual imposition involving a 13-year-old victim, while Wanket was convicted in 2006 for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl.
It also said that Auvil and Eoff arrived separately at NAIA last Aug. 22 from San Francisco, United States and Tokyo, Japan, respectively.
Auvil was convicted in 2006 for sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl while Eoff was convicted in 2013 for second degree sexual assault against a six-year-old girl, the BI said.
It said that Alvarado and Wall arrived at NAIA last Aug. 23 and 29, respectively. Alvarado was convicted in 2017 of child pornography for possessing obscene material depicting a minor in sexual conduct while Wall was convicted in 1999 for sexual penetration of and sexual copulation with an 18-year-old victim, it also said.
Turner, who was convicted in 2003 of sexual assault of a child in the second degree, was not allowed to enter the Philippines upon his arrival at the Mactan airport in Cebu last Aug. 24, it added.