A US citizen facing charges of molesting children at a California day care center has been arrested in Taiwan, police said yesterday.
Mark Lee Kaczmarczyk, 58, was arrested in Taipei on Sunday, a Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) official said, adding that police were preparing deportation proceedings against him.
Ma Chen-hua (馬振華), director of the bureau’s International Affairs Department, said Kaczmarczyk faces six charges related to the alleged molestation of infants between the ages of several months and three years at a day care center he operated with his wife in San Diego, California.
PHOTO: CNA
He fled a US$2 million bail in December 2008 while undergoing compulsory treatment for sex offenders, Ma said.
CIB agents apprehended Kaczmarczyk at an apartment on Dunhua S Road Sec 1 at 4pm on Sunday, Ma said, adding that an interview with Kaczmarczyk satisfied police that he had not committed any crime during his month-long stay in Taipei.
Kaczmarczyk is being held at the Alien Temporary Detention Center in Sansia Township (三峽), Taipei County.
CIB agents had learned that Kaczmarczyk often visited a balloon shop near the Zhongxiao SOGO store in Taipei, where he told clerks that he wanted to stay in Taiwan and open an English-language kindergarten in the city, Ma said.
A female CIB agent surnamed Yan pretended to be a friend of one of the balloon shop clerks in order to win his confidence and managed to discover where he was staying.
“He told us he likes Taiwan and would like to stay here to run a day care center,” Ma said.
He added that the police had immediately informed the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) of the arrest, after which the AIT dispatched officials to talk to Kaczmarczyk.
Police said AIT officials told Kaczmarczyk that his US passport had been canceled and that he would be repatriated very soon.
US authorities had informed the CIB on Feb. 6 through the AIT that a suspect on the US’ wanted list had entered the country, Ma said.
He said Kaczmarczyk had fled from a cognitive therapy clinic in December and left for Hong Kong from Los Angeles. He flew to Taiwan from Hong Kong on Jan. 8.
There was no comment on the case yesterday from the AIT, which was closed for the US Presidents Day holiday.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
RSS