Charlotte-area arrest leads to bust of extensive child sex tourism ring overseas
A Hickory man’s arrest has led to the discovery of an extensive human trafficking operation in the Philippines. Investigators say he abused at least 68 children and distributed child pornography.
Robert Parker, 75, was arrested in late September at the Pin Station Bowling alley in Newton, about an hour northwest of Charlotte, according to Michael Prado, the Deputy Special Agent In charge of Charlotte’s Homeland Security Investigations Field Office.
Now, he says, Parker’s charges for involvement with child sex tourism is just “the tip of the iceberg.”
Sex tourism happens when individuals travel from one country to another specifically to sexually exploit children.
Parker was identified based on a tip to investigators that he took photos of the abuse, was distributing them online, and trading them with others on internet servers, Prado said. HSI has connections in Manila and found that Parker made multiple visits to the country from 2010-2015, staying for months at a time.
“The scope of the damage that he caused is enormous,” Prado said. “We’ve identified 68 children, some of whom are no longer children …that were abused directly by Mr. Parker, as part of the sex trafficking ring that we ultimately uncovered.”
So far 16 of those victims have been “rescued” and are receiving help, Prado said. It is tricky to involve the victims in the prosecution aspect of the case, and to provide them with services because some are now adult sex workers.
“In some cases, yes, we’ve secured cooperation from adults who were victimized as children, but in a lot of cases some of these victims who are now adults see this as their lifeline to make money,” Prado said. ”Honestly, with the poverty being so embedded in certain parts of the country there, a lot of these victims see this as their only way to actually put food on the table. It’s really a tragedy.”
Prado said Parker’s arrest led them to an “arranger,’‘ a woman in the Philippines who organized the exploitation. Her arrest is imminent, he said.
Charlotte agents have been sent to Manila to further investigate, Prado said.
“Presently, the only arrest is Parker but he’s, we believe, the tip of the iceberg and once we move to arrest and prosecute the arranger and the ringleader of the trafficking network, we anticipate additional leads being discovered from that arrest,” Prado said.
Crimes like this are all too common, Prado said. And cases of child exploitation are the agency’s top priority.
In fiscal year 2021, HSI made 246 arrests in the Carolinas relating to child exploitation. In FY 2022, that number rose to 298.
“What’s interesting about this case is how we were able to take one specific suspect locally, and through tremendous investigative effort and collaboration with our foreign national partners, really expand the investigation into a very extensive sex trafficking network that has, and will lead to, the rescue of numerous children,” Prado said.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 10:56 AM.
