Nepal searches for more child abuse victims of arrested Australian

Earlier this month, former UN official Peter Dalglish was sentenced to 9 years in jail for sexually abusing two boys

KHATMANDU: Nepalese police on Wednesday were searching for more child victims of an Australian arrested for allegedly abusing two boys, the latest foreigner to be accused of pedophilia in the Himalayan country.

The 62-year-old paragliding pilot was arrested on Tuesday after police raided his rented house in the tourist town of Pokhara following a tip-off.

Police said the pilot, who had been working in Nepal for three years, was caught "red-handed" with two boys aged 12 and 14.

Child sexual abuse cases continue to rise, report says

"He has been living here so we need to investigate if there are other victims or if he is connected with a network of pedophiles," local police official Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP.

Weak law enforcement has made Nepal notorious for sexual predators, with several arrests and convictions in recent years.

The suspects often target children from poor families, luring them with gifts or with promises to support their education.

Last year at least four foreigners were arrested in child sexual abuse cases, while a British man was arrested in January.

Earlier this month, former United Nations official Peter Dalglish was sentenced to nine years in jail for sexually abusing two boys.

In 2015, 71-year-old Canadian orphanage volunteer Ernest MacIntosh was sent to prison for seven years for sexually abusing a disabled 15-year-old boy.

And in 2010, French charity worker Jean-Jacques Haye was convicted of raping 10 children at a Kathmandu orphanage.