A 52-year-old German “fugitive,” who is wanted in Canada for alleged multiple child pornography offenses, was arrested in Kidapawan City, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado said that operatives of the bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU) arrested last Jan. 9 the German fugitive who was identified only as “Arthur.”

“This arrest sends a very clear message: predators who exploit children, whether online or in person, have no place in this country,” Viado declared.

He also said: “The President has ordered all agencies to act decisively against transnational criminals, and the BI will relentlessly pursue fugitives who think they can hide behind our borders. We will find you, and we will act.”

The BI said it acted on information from a private complaint who reported that “Arthur” has been involved in child pornography cases in Canada.

After verification, the BI said it was confirmed that “Arthur,” who arrived in the Philippines on Oct. 7, 2025 as a temporary visitor, has been “the subject of 10 arrest warrants issued between 2011 and 2016 for possession of child pornography, in violation of the Criminal Code of Canada.”

It also said: “Canadian authorities reported that in November 2015, online accounts belonging to alias ‘Arthur’ was traced by the British Columbia Integrated Child Exploitation Unit to be containing explicit material involving minors. Canadian police later executed a search warrant at his residence, seizing electronic devices that contained child pornography and sexually explicit Skype conversations dating from 2010 to 2016.”

At the same time, the BI said that records showed that “majority of alias ‘Arthur’s’ online communications involved foreign women and girls, primarily from Asian countries, and many of the individuals identified themselves as being between 12 and 16 years old.”

It also said that “’Arthur’ communicated with the underage girls through webcam sessions and requested them to perform sexually explicit acts in exchange for money.