CONTROVERSY AS UK TEACHER CONVICTED ABROAD FOR CHILD SEX OFFENSE EVADES REGISTER
A schoolteacher from Birmingham, Kevin William Lane, was deported from Thailand after paying pounds 17 in July 2000 to a bar owner for sex with a 14-year-old boy.Lane, aged 50, faced a Thai court where he was fined pounds 150 and deported back to England, likely to his hometown.
The court in Pattaya found him guilty but leniently blamed the bar owner for allowing underage children into the premises for prostitution.
Despite his conviction, Lane will not be placed on the UK's Sex Offenders' Register due to a legal loophole, since the offence occurred abroad.
UK authorities expressed concern that unwitting schools and employers cannot easily identify his background, as he is not on the register and law reviews are ongoing to address this issue.
Lane had previously been in custody for the offence and was sentenced lightly, prompting criticism from child exploitation watchdogs.
Authorities are tracking his whereabouts, but he has not been formally registered as a sex offender in the UK, raising fears he could re-enter educational settings or other positions of trust without detection.
