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CAIRNS GAY DADS CHARGED WITH ALLEGED EXPLOITATION OF SON

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CAIRNS GAY DADS CHARGED WITH ALLEGED EXPLOITATION OF SON

AUTHOR // Serkan Ozturk

The Cairns gay couple at the centre of a transnational investigation into an organised paedophile ring traversing three continents have continued to proclaim their innocence despite being arrested in Los Angeles last Thursday over alleged sexual exploitation of their six year-old son.

American authorities have also charged a third man, a Florida-based lawyer, who has been named as the lead defendant in the case.

The Florida-based lawyer and the Cairns couple have all been charged with counts of conspiracy to sexually exploit a child and the sexual exploitation of a child.

Speaking to SX previously, the men said they were the victims of prejudice against gay fathers having unwittingly been caught up in an international sting on a paedophile ring which happened to include at least three of their friends and acquaintances in the US, New Zealand and Germany.

“My son shouldn’t be punished for the alleged sins of his father,” one of the men said.

The boy is a joint Australian and US citizen with grandparents and relatives in both Queensland and the United States.

One of the men, an American citizen, had the boy with a surrogate Russian mother in 2005.

The boy’s Brisbane-based grandmother told SX that she believed her son was innocent of the charges, while she also harboured fears for the mental wellbeing of her grandson.

“My grandson has lived in Australia for most of his life. His school is here. His friends are here. He should be here,” she said.

The boy has been in the custody of the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services since October last year when his parents were first questioned over the allegations.

2013 Mar 1