A decade ago, Daniel Gary Rounds, a pedophile and a special ed-teacher from Philadelphia, was jailed in a Honduran prison for child molestation. His fantasy of molesting Honduran boys in exchange of shoes or snacks were well described on his journal according to the TIME magazine reported in 1999. The article also indicated that sex tourists were finding a new way to molest children in foreign lands as the police began imposing stringent penalties on sex trafficking in South Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines. In addition, the report stated that the sex tourists were flocking to Latin American countries in search of child victims after the hurricane impoverished the region in 1998. 

But, a recent report reveals that sex tourism in Central America is continuously prospering even a decade has passed since the hurricane hit the Central America. Perhaps, hurricane is not the only reason why johns and pedophiles in the U.S. and Canada to fly to Central America to prey upon young ones in Central America.

Sex tourism ongoing battle in Central America

According to the article published by Vivian Trill, young women and children from many countries in Central America are sexually enslaved by the traffickers. One woman from Guatemala was neglected by her trafficker in the parking lot because she was severely beaten by a john and her trafficker found her to be no longer useful as a sex slave. The TIP 2010 report  by State Department indicates that child prostitution and sex tourism are rampant in Honduran tourism area as parents sell their children to satisfy the sexual appetites for foreign pedophiles. These sources suggests that more effort addressing the demand from North American predators for child prostitution and sex tourism in Central American countries is needed to stop child exploitation in these countries. 

Pedophiles and Johns flocking to Central America

According to one article by Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin America Studies,  over 30,000 Americans and several thousand Canadians had retired to Costa Rica in 1994. Also, some johns and pedophiles say that they prefer flying to Central America to South Asian countries because sex tourism to Central America is cheaper and easier to get to than to South Asian countries. For instance, the airfare from Chicago to Costa Rica costs a little over $400 (including tax), whereas airfare from Chicago to the Philippines costs at least over $1000. Some johns sees crackdown on sex trafficking in South Asian countries  as obstacles for their sex tourism and cite it as another reason why they should not fly to those countries for sex tourism and child molestation. 

Reporting child sex tourists and pedophiles

Authorities successfully make many of the arrests on lucrative crimes like sex tourism and child trafficking, because of the information provided by a vigilant citizen. This is not to say that one should spend all day to crack down on pedophiles and sex tourists all over the United States and Canada. However, if a person runs into someone that he or she suspects as a pedophile or a sex tourist, he or she shouldn't hesitate to inform the authority of the suspect. So, here is how a vigilant citizen can report to a sex tourist suspect to the authority. According to World Vision website, a person can either email the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at operation.predator@DHS.gov. or call the ICE hotline at 1-866-347-2423.  (But, of course, if a john is committing pedophilia against our American children, of course, a vigilant citizen is encouraged to inform your local authority of the suspect.)