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FBI seeks victims of 'prolific' international child predator

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barrbarr

Member
So a month ago I heard that one of my old teachers died. A couple days later I started hearing rumors that he had killed himself because the FBI was about to arrest him for pedophilia. A few days ago the news broke, and now we know that yes it is true that the FBI was after him. Apparently he had taken pictures of up to 90 boys from 2008-2014, and he has been molesting kids since at least 1969. Here is the CNN article on him

An alleged child predator who taught at schools across the world for more than four decades may have more victims, and the FBI is trying to track them down, the agency's Houston bureau said Tuesday.

William James Vahey killed himself in Luverne, Minnesota, last month, two days after a federal judge in Houston said authorities could search one of Vahey's thumb drives that allegedly contained images depicting sexual assault on children, CNN affiliate KPRC reported.

There were images of at least 90 victims, dating back to 2008, and the FBI is encouraging additional alleged victims to come forward. The images on the thumb drive allegedly belonging to Vahey showed boys, estimated to be between 12 and 14 years old, asleep or unconscious, the agency said.

The images had captions and dates referencing places that Vahey had previously traveled with students, the FBI said.
"This is one of the most prolific alleged predators we've ever seen," Houston FBI Special Agent Shauna Dunlap told the station.

Vahey began teaching in private schools in 1972, the FBI says. He last taught at the American Nicaraguan School in Pista Suburbana, Managua, Nicaragua from August 2013 until March 11, two days before he committed suicide, KPRC reported.
The case came to law enforcement attention after Vahey fired his maid for allegedly stealing personal items from his home last year, KPRC said. In March, the ex-maid brought a stolen thumb drive to the American Nicaraguan School, saying she came forward because the drive contained sexual images, the station reported.

The FBI said that when Vahey was confronted with the images, he "reportedly admitted molesting boys throughout his entire life and said he gave the minors sleeping pills prior to the molestation."

He had residences in London and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and traveled extensively, the FBI said. He worked at schools in nine countries, teaching a variety of subjects and coaching boys' basketball. He regularly accompanied students on overnight field trips, the FBI said.

The schools where he taught are, according to the FBI:
-- American Nicaraguan School in Managua, Nicaragua (2013-2014)
-- Southbank International School in London, United Kingdom (2009-2013)
-- Escuela Campo Alegre in Caracas, Venezuela (2002-2009)
-- Jakarta International School in Jakarta, Indonesia (1992-2002)
-- Saudi Aramco Schools in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1980-1992)
-- American Community School in Athens, Greece (1978-1980)
-- Passargad School in Ahwaz, Iran (1976-1978)
-- American School of Madrid in Spain (1975-1976)
-- American Community School of Beirut in Lebanon (1973-1975)
-- Tehran American School in Iran (1972-1973)

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/22/justice/texas-fbi-international-child-predator-victims/index.html
This is the first time I have made a thread, so sorry if I made any mistakes.
 
What a crazy situation though, truth be told. Nine countries? Over 40 years teaching? Three houses, and only found out because the maid found something and reported it?

Criminy.
 

jacobeid

Banned
Yeah, it's a long shot, but maybe being chased by the FBI will take the toll on his mental state and he'll eventually commit suicide out of desperation.

I can't tell if you guys are being serious. OP states that the alleged child predator killed himself, as does the article....both in their second sentences.
 
Hope they catch the fucker.

mofoyh4au3.gif
 

Claneko

Member
Eh, figured I'd pop back in and apologize for my comment. Thinking on it, it's probably humor in poor taste all things considered. To the OP: Sorry to hear that, I can only imagine how surreal and disturbing that must be to find this out.
 
Yuck this is truly fucking disgusting. I don't even know how people can rape kids. Makes me wanna fucking throw them in hot boiling oil, peel their fucking skin off.
 

Salmonax

Member
Hope they catch the fucker.

In case it takes some of the pressure off, nobody really cares about post counts on GAF.

And it's a shame this guy got to off himself before having to answer to his actions. What an absolutely horrific human being.
 

Madness

Member
At least 90+ boys traumatized. Disgusting. Not to mention he was teaching in Nicaragua, Venezuela etc. Who knows how many were victimized there without any means of recourse. A lot of pedophiles and sexual deviants have started to travel internationally to places where laws are somewhat lax and it's easier for them target underage children etc.

What I also want to know is, why wasn't he in custody after bring presented with the images?
 

barrbarr

Member
Sorry to hear that man. At least you weren't one of the numerous victims :\

I am pretty lucky. He was a middle school teacher, and when I entered the school I was in High School. However there is a large chance that some of my friends were victims, at the moment the news sites are making it sound like none of the victims even knew that they were victims in the first place. From what I understand he was drugging kids with sleeping pills on overnight school trips and then taking pictures of them after they had fallen asleep. At the moment no one knows what he did to the kids before/after the photos were taken.

One of the reasons why schools liked hiring him was because he would offer to chaperone over night field trips, and he took initiative in making them happen. He did this by making an "Adventure Club" which would take multiple trips to different places throughout the year. He was also the Basketball coach and Volleyball coach, so whenever those teams went away for competitions he'd go with them.
 

Vyroxis

Banned
Luverne MN isnt that far from me. Kinda creepy seeing a local town mentioned on GAF. Especially for something this horrid.
 
I am pretty. He was a middle school teacher, and when I entered the school I was in High School. However there is a large chance that some of my friends were victims, at the moment the news sites are making it sound like none of the victims even knew that they were victims in the first place. From what I understand he was drugging kids with sleeping pills on overnight school trips and then taking pictures of them after they had fallen asleep. At the moment no one knows what he did to the kids before/after the photos were taken.

One of the reasons why schools liked hiring him was because he would offer to chaperone over night field trips, and he took initiative in making them happen. He did this by making an "Adventure Club" which would take multiple trips to different places throughout the year. He was also the Basketball coach and Volleyball coach, so whenever those teams went away for competitions he'd go with them.
Jesus. I'm tempted to ban all overnights for my kids if I'm not there.
 

kirblar

Member
I am pretty lucky. He was a middle school teacher, and when I entered the school I was in High School. However there is a large chance that some of my friends were victims, at the moment the news sites are making it sound like none of the victims even knew that they were victims in the first place. From what I understand he was drugging kids with sleeping pills on overnight school trips and then taking pictures of them after they had fallen asleep. At the moment no one knows what he did to the kids before/after the photos were taken.

One of the reasons why schools liked hiring him was because he would offer to chaperone over night field trips, and he took initiative in making them happen. He did this by making an "Adventure Club" which would take multiple trips to different places throughout the year. He was also the Basketball coach and Volleyball coach, so whenever those teams went away for competitions he'd go with them.
Hopefully that's the case and no actual physical contact was ever made.

edit: Never mind, that's clearly not the case from the article after re-reading it. :( Ugh.
 

barrbarr

Member
I'm assuming you're not a survivor of this but I can't imagine how creeped out you must feel by all this.

I'm holding up fine, but it is really weird. The school that I went to was really small, and I knew this guy. I didn't graduate from that school, but alot of my friends did, and a majority of the year had a post graduation meal at his house, I've gone paintballing with him. I have family friends who have known him for years. He was one of the most popular teachers there.
 

BlackJet

Member
He knew what he was doing. He was hopping from country to country after a few years in each and was always in a position close to children. I imagine that looked fishy to the FBI and caused them to investigate. What's upsetting is his constant immigrating seems like something that would set off an obvious alarm.

It's a damn shame that he killed himself before he was brought in.
 
I'm holding up fine, but it is really weird. The school that I went to was really small, and I knew this guy. I didn't graduate from that school, but alot of my friends did, and a majority of the year had a post graduation meal at his house, I've gone paintballing with him. I have family friends who have known him for years. He was one of the most popular teachers there.

well, some people probably didn't even know they were being molested if the article is accurate. He drugged them.
 

Madness

Member
Jesus. I'm tempted to ban all overnights for my kids if I'm not there.

Stories like this make it hard, but you need to realize, the negative always gets posted, the positive doesn't. The amount of good, honest and caring adults and teachers far outnumbers these individuals. The last thing you want to do is try and shelter kids or prevent experiences because you're scared for them.

I see it now all the time. Kids can't bike ride outside their block/Street, can't walk to school alone, have to be driven by car etc. Best you can do is educate your kids on the dangers, teach them about what to do if approached, to tell someone right away if anyone touches them inappropriately or makes them feel uncomfortable. What's sad is, a lot of kids develop lifelong problems because of this sexual abuse. Many of the kids I worked with in a youth detention center, if you heard their stories, a lot suffered physical and sexual abuse growing up. Just heartbreaking.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
Remember when people used to read the OP? Me neither ...
Pretty sure flyinpiranha is being sarcastic.

I am pretty lucky. He was a middle school teacher, and when I entered the school I was in High School. However there is a large chance that some of my friends were victims, at the moment the news sites are making it sound like none of the victims even knew that they were victims in the first place. From what I understand he was drugging kids with sleeping pills on overnight school trips and then taking pictures of them after they had fallen asleep. At the moment no one knows what he did to the kids before/after the photos were taken.

One of the reasons why schools liked hiring him was because he would offer to chaperone over night field trips, and he took initiative in making them happen. He did this by making an "Adventure Club" which would take multiple trips to different places throughout the year. He was also the Basketball coach and Volleyball coach, so whenever those teams went away for competitions he'd go with them.
Goddamn, that is fucked up. Glad to hear you weren't one of the victims, but as for the other kids - my heart goes out to them.
 
He was one of the most popular teachers there.

Assuming he never actually touched or physically children (which is unlikely, and still extremely wrong even if he didn't), he could have been one of those pedophiles that actually loves children, rather than just fancies them in a sexual way. I'm guessing that is possibly one reason why he came off as such a good person. He might have been in every other area, but let his desires overcome his rational senses and possibly didn't understand that he was crossing that line. I do believe that it can be a mental predisposition, so I'm interested to hear more details about the case.

Of course, he could have just been a psychopath that fully intended to molest and harm the children. I'm certainly not defending him either way, but this could be a very interesting case for analysis, since he did this literally across the globe over such a long time span.
 

Meier

Member
What an awful story. Hopefully the OP doesn't know anyone who was affected by this monster but that seems unlikely.
 

RedStep

Member
Assuming he never actually touched or physically children (which is unlikely, and still extremely wrong even if he didn't), he could have been one of those pedophiles that actually loves children, rather than just fancies them in a sexual way.

OP said:
The FBI said that when Vahey was confronted with the images, he "reportedly admitted molesting boys throughout his entire life and said he gave the minors sleeping pills prior to the molestation."

...doesn't look like it. With that much time, I think we're looking at hundreds of children harmed, most of whom (thankfully) most likely have no idea.
 

Timeless

Member
How could the FBI get a warrant for searching any of his stuff, if the first indication something was wrong came from an illegally stolen flash drive? Not that it matters now.
 

Webbie

Banned
How could the FBI get a warrant for searching any of his stuff, if the first indication something was wrong came from an illegally stolen flash drive? Not that it matters now.

Because a crime is a crime even if it comes from a thief, especially when it involves molesting young kids.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
How could the FBI get a warrant for searching any of his stuff, if the first indication something was wrong came from an illegally stolen flash drive? Not that it matters now.

Crimes against children are not taken softly. Which is why there's so many different agencies to report such crimes. Even if you are suspicious of child abuse you are required by law to go to the authorities. If he was proven guilty and someone knew about it and they didn't report it. They could be charged as well.

He might of been in the pictures.
 

Chuckl3s

Member
I am pretty lucky. He was a middle school teacher, and when I entered the school I was in High School. However there is a large chance that some of my friends were victims, at the moment the news sites are making it sound like none of the victims even knew that they were victims in the first place. From what I understand he was drugging kids with sleeping pills on overnight school trips and then taking pictures of them after they had fallen asleep. At the moment no one knows what he did to the kids before/after the photos were taken.

One of the reasons why schools liked hiring him was because he would offer to chaperone over night field trips, and he took initiative in making them happen. He did this by making an "Adventure Club" which would take multiple trips to different places throughout the year. He was also the Basketball coach and Volleyball coach, so whenever those teams went away for competitions he'd go with them.

That sounds like something out of South Park. Freakin creepy.
 
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