POKHARA: A French national has been arrested in Nepal on the charge of pedophilia.

A joint team deployed from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police and District Police Office, Kaski nabbed Kristin Serge Henry Nagaret, 60, on charges of child sexual abuse and exploitation of three children.

Nagaret was arrested from Pokhara Metropolitan City-17 Birauta Powerhouse Fursekhola Bagar on Tuesday.

He was caught red-handed while sexually abusing and exploiting three children aged 7, 8, and 12 years on a riverbank.

He is married to a Nepali woman and is living at Pokhara-6 on a non-tourist visa. A computer engineer by profession, Nagaret first came to Nepali in 2005.

The minors have been handed over to their parents.

Kaski Police has started an investigation into the case after Kaski District Court remanded him to judicial custody.

According to the bureau’s officials, Nagaret is on the record of international child sex offenders.

Pedophiles have been targeting Nepali children from poor economic backgrounds and also those belonging to uneducated families. It is easy to lure them for money and food in name of social services.

The government has established Child Helpline (1098) in collaboration with CWIN Nepal (Child Workers in Nepal) in order to respond immediately to a distress call from children in need and to curb child sexual abuses across the country.

The investigation has shown that street children and those living on the outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley tend to be frequent victims of sexual abuse.

According to a report of Global Studies on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travels and Tourism, ‘Nepali children have been the easy targets of foreigners walking around the country as pedophiles.’

Existing legal provisions on child sexual abuse

Section 225 of Criminal (Code) Act, 2017 states that if anyone takes a child to a secluded place with an intention of engaging in sex, touching his/her sexual organ, or forcing them to touch sexual organs of offenders will constitute a child sexual abuse.

According to law, if a person is convicted for child sexual abuse, he/she will be sentenced to three years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 30,000. Similarly, if a person is involved in unnatural sexual intercourse, he/ she will be imprisoned for 10 to 20 years depending on the age of children so abused.