UK pedophile suspect caught by Beijing police

Man worked in China from 2008 to 2012 as teacher at an int'l school

A former teacher at a Beijing international school, wanted by police in the United Kingdom in connection with the distribution of indecent images of children and the rape of a child, has been arrested in the capital, according to police in Beijing on Friday.

The news has also been confirmed by police in Surrey, where the man was from.

Neil Robinson, 47, joined Beijing World Youth Academy in 2008, but left the school in May last year for "personal reasons".

He is believed to have been in the country since then.

Beijing police gave no further details of the arrest, other than to confirm the man has been detained.

Surrey police are now liaising with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Chinese authorities regarding Robinson's return to the UK, James Baker, lead media relations officer of Surrey Police in the UK, told China Daily

He added that Robinson had turned himself in to authorities in China.

The offenses Robinson is wanted in connection with took place between 2000 and 2002.He has links to Sussex and Surrey, Baker said.

A staff member at Beijing World Youth Academy, who declined to be named, confirmed to China Daily on Friday that Robinson had worked at the school, but the school's HR department could not be reached.

The arrest warrant for Robinson was revealed during an episode of BBC television's Crimewatch program, which highlights police appeals for information involving wanted people in the United Kingdom.

The program had reported that Robinson may be abroad.

The staff member said international teachers at the Beijing World Youth Academy normally renew their contracts in May, but that Robinson had handed in his resignation early last year, because he had claimed his father was "seriously ill and he had to return to the UK".

On Wednesday a netizen posted a message on Reddit.com, an expat forum, that he had worked with and known Robinson for five years, but by Friday, the netizen had removed the message.

Beijing Youth Daily reported that Robinson had been identified by former students on Facebook.

Other netizens said that the case highlighted how the background checking process in China's international schools should be tightened.

"Chinese employers, please do background checks before hiring international staff members," said netizen Fo Yue Da Xiong, on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like service.

International schools in Beijing hire teachers from their native countries and through Chinese agencies.

An education counselor with the international program at a high school attached to Tsinghua University, who declined to give her name, said that Chinese agencies often do not carry out background checks.

"Schools make phone calls or write to people for references to check prospective teachers' credentials," she said, adding that it was often difficult for schools to do criminal background checks.

"If applicants are from the United States, we can ask them to show a criminal background check by the US government. But it's hard to do that in China," she added.