Man Notorious for Raping Daughter for Porn Video Arrested, Contests Extradition
The video Kenneth John Freeman made of raping his daughter has been a rather popular download, but after over a year on the run, he was arrested in Hong Kong. His daughter told her story on America’s Most Wanted. This AP story is from the Boston Globe
American wants to fight extradition
By Sylvia Hui, Associated Press Writer | May 4, 2007
HONG KONG –An American accused of raping his daughter and posting a video of the attack on the Internet wants to contest his extradition to the United States, a lawyer said Friday.
The decision by Freeman’s 17-year-old daughter to tell her story on national TV helped connect the case to some of the Internet’s most notorious molestation videos. At a news conference Wednesday in Kennewick, Wash., the girl simply smiled as authorities and family praised her for coming forward and urged others to do the same.
“We want America to know that this is awful. This is an awful thing that goes on in our society each and everyday,” Chris Peale, the girl’s stepfather, said at a news conference. “Kids are being molested, being raped, and I can’t tell you enough how important it is for those families to support those children.”
Freeman, a 44-year-old bodybuilder and former volunteer reserve sheriff’s deputy, was on the most-wanted lists of the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Freeman has been charged in a Washington state court with three counts of rape of a child and jumping bail, and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. He also faces federal charges of producing and distributing child pornography.
Authorities said Freeman fled the U.S. last year. Investigators tracked him down in Suzhou, China, where he is believed to have been working at the local office of a U.S.-based company.
Chinese police arrested him Tuesday night at a land checkpoint in Hong Kong after he arrived there from mainland China, a Hong Kong police spokeswoman said. Speaking on customary condition of anonymity, the spokeswoman added that he resisted arrest, slightly injuring four officers. She refused to say whether he was injured during the arrest.
The girl appeared on the TV show “America’s Most Wanted” to talk about the case. Tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after the show aired helped the center identify the girl as the victim in a series of child pornography videos, according to the Marshals Service.
Video of the abuse is among the most widely downloaded child pornography videos in recent years, officials said.
October 20th, 2007 at 12:00 am
He was finally extradited, and arraigned today. This story is from Associated Press
Oh, of course! A father raping his daughter does not physically hurt or threaten her! What a crock. Is this man that delusional, or just trying to put the best face on his crime? It took long enough to extradite this man on the most-wanted lists.