Family of jailed child molester urges tough justice for 'evil past'

The Phnom Penh Post
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/

Written by Kyle Sherer
Thursday, 28 May 2009

Relatives of convicted paedophile Jack Sporich want him locked up in Siem Reap prison for good.

ANGERED family members and victims of a convicted child molester awaiting trial in Siem Reap prison have contacted the Post as part of a campaign to ensure that he is never released again.

The family members of Californian Jack Sporich, 74, told the Post that they are coming forward with damning accusations to "make the world aware of his evil past" and to "keep him in prison, where he belongs".

Sporich was arrested in Siem Reap in February after police said he lured four Cambodian boys to his house, but last week US media revealed sordid details of his "evil past" in the US.

Sporich married a Cambodian woman and began building his Siem Reap house in 2005, a year after he was released from California's Atascadero State Hospital, a maximum security psychiatric centre for sexually violent predators.

During his 39 months in the hospital, Sporich refused treatment, according to reports. Prosecutors estimate that Sporich, who spent nine years in Californian prison for sexual offences against minors, molested as many as 500 children, reports said.

Joe Arbanas, a cousin of Sporich, said that the convictions were just the tip of the iceberg, and revealed that he had been molested by Sporich at age 6.

"Jack is very, very smart. He got away with far more crimes than he was charged with. June Caine, Jack's sister, is contacting everyone to find out how many of us kept silent for years like me. I am now speaking out about what he did to me over 50 years ago, and all the relatives will know what a monster he really is."

Sporich moved to Siem Reap after taking a photography tour through the region. "Jack was quite the photographer," said Arbanas. "In fact, he was pretty good at anything he tried."

But Arbanas claims Sporich was driven by a single motivation. "I believe Jack moved there for one reason. To molest children without detection. Jack has been single all his life. The marriage he is in is a smokescreen to do what he does best, molest children."

June Caine, Sporich's sister, told the Post that after Sporich was released in 2004, the family was willing to give him a second chance. But when she heard about the Siem Reap charges, she doubted whether he ever truly wanted to reform.

"Somehow, deep inside of me, I believe Jack had all this planned," she said. "Perhaps he felt he would not get caught.

"I'm distressed and ashamed of my brother. He is mentally sick. I think he believes he was helping the children in the US and still feels the same way. After all, these children are in poverty and, in his belief, he feels he is helping them."