Mirror News
Little kids and their parents smile at the friendly old gent sitting in the sun – unaware he is a convicted paedophile.
As this Sunday People picture reveals, retired teacher Reginald Blakeley relaxed on a bench at a British seaside resort this week after serving just one year for molesting boys in Cambodia.
Looking a picture of innocence with a Bible beside him, the grinning 71-year-old repeatedly caught the eye of youngsters as they wandered past.
Their parents will be horrified to learn the leering pensioner was convicted last year of sexually abusing five boys aged between seven and 14.
Little kids and their parents smile at the friendly old gent sitting in the sun – unaware he is a convicted paedophile.
As this Sunday People picture reveals, retired teacher Reginald Blakeley relaxed on a bench at a British seaside resort this week after serving just one year for molesting boys in Cambodia.
Looking a picture of innocence with a Bible beside him, the grinning 71-year-old repeatedly caught the eye of youngsters as they wandered past.
Their parents will be horrified to learn the leering pensioner was convicted last year of sexually abusing five boys aged between seven and 14.
After serving his sentence– dismissed as too lenient by a children’s charity – Blakeley returned here earlier this year and is now staying in Torquay, Devon.
When the Sunday People approached him near the seafront he claimed he had been the victim of a frame-up in Cambodia and insisted: “I love children.”
And Blakeley, who is barred from returning to the south-east Asian country because of his disgusting record, chillingly revealed he now plans to fly to South America “to help poor children”.
Blakeley, originally from Poole, Dorset, was arrested in January last year in the city of Siem Reap on one of his regular visits to Cambodia.
Campaigners there say paedophiles flock to the country because child sex is available for as little as 50p a time.
After a trial Blakeley was convicted of committing indecent acts and was sentenced to two years’ jail with one year suspended.
He was also fined just £330 and ordered to pay £100 compensation each to three of his victims. The two other boys did not request compensation.
Samleang Seila, local director for child rights group Action Pour Les Enfants, said the sentence was too lenient. He said: “It will only encourage more abuses against Cambodian children.”
The charity had secretly monitored Blakeley, photographing him alongside a boy in a replica Manchester United shirt and apparently handing cash to a group of schooolchildren. The charity said he abused boys he met at porridge stalls outside schools.
Two years earlier Blakeley was arrested by Dorset police following a tip-off from the charity when he returned from Cambodia but was released due to lack of evidence.
This week he insisted his conviction last year was a miscarriage of justice and claimed the second year of his sentence was only suspended after he paid £2,000.
He said: “I was stitched up in Cambodia by the corrupt police and courts. They target holidaymakers to get money.
“I spent one year in jail and I didn’t want to spend any more time there. It cost me 3,000 dollars to get out.
“The judge had said I could return to Cambodia but when I went to get my documents and papers, which cost another 50 dollars, I was told I could not return.”
Blakeley said the investigation by Dorset police surrounded a boy who made a sex assault allegation against him in Cambodia.
He said: “The boy had stolen a mobile phone. The police told him what to say to let him off the hook and make allegations against me.
“The Cambodians are targeting tourists who will pay them cash to get off trumped up charges. The initial allegations against me were thrown out.
“The British police had my laptop and camera for nine months. I had 18,000 pictures from my worldwide travels on them but they did not find anything abusive.
“Perhaps I was a bit stupid to go back to Cambodia a year later. But I love the poor children.”
Blakeley added: “I won’t be here for that long because I want to travel again.
“I am looking to go back to South America or possibly Central America. I haven’t been there and it may be cheaper. I want to help poor children.”
Church-goer Blakeley denied he had any interest in youngsters in Torquay and claimed he was going out of his way to avoid them.
He told us: “I was out on a life-long Sex Offenders’ Register which police have changed to 10 years.
“I have stopped going to two of the local churches because there are too many children there. I go to a church where the congregation are in their 70s and 80s.”
Dorset police declined to comment about his 2010 arrest.
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