Previously convicted sex offender pleads guilty in Missouri to 'sex tourism' for victimizing 5 Filipino children

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A previously convicted sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to sexually abusing five children in the Philippines, announced U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson, Western District of Missouri.

This guilty plea resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Kenneth Gaylord Stokes, 70, a U.S. citizen who resided near the city of Cebu in the Philippines, pleaded guilty Jan. 27 before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to five counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

Stokes has been in federal custody since his arrest Dec. 3, 2012, and is being held without bond. Stokes has a prior conviction in 1988 for the statutory rape of a 7-year-old child in the state of Washington.

In July 2012 an undercover HSI special agent located a Craigslist ad from Stokes that offered photography services in the Philippines. Stokes and the special agent communicated via email for several months.  During this time, Stokes emailed the agent photos of juvenile females, some of whom were in sexually explicit poses. The undercover agent asked to meet Stokes, who encouraged the agent to visit and indicated that he would help facilitate sexual liaisons.

On Dec. 3, 2012 the undercover special agent met Stokes at his residence in the Philippines. Stokes showed the HSI special agent a laptop computer with multiple images of child pornography and was arrested.

HSI special agents seized Stokes’ computers and conducted a forensic examination. They were able to determine the identities of five girls, who later told law enforcement officers that Stokes paid them to pose for the sexually explicit photos.

Under federal statutes, Stokes is subject to a sentence of up to 60 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000, on each of the five counts. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher, Western District of Missouri, is prosecuting this case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.