Australian pedophile gets eight years jail in Bali

Philip Robert Grandfield aged 62 was arrested last August for sex crimes against under-age boys. He has been given a jail sentence of eight years for his crimes. There is a chance he will face further charges in Australia if he makes it through his sentence in Bali.

Grandfield converted to Islam to try and get a lesser sentence. Michelle Leslie who was caught with ecstasy tablets in Bali also converted to Islam while she awaited her trial, where she was sentenced to 3-months jail.

Grandfield had been living in Bali for the past 10 years and paid the teenagers between 25,000 rupiah ($3.30) and 50,000 rupiah.

This is not an isolated incident as I have just discovered by reading more stories of Australian pedophiles in Indonesia. Here is a tragic story written in 2006: A paradise for pedophiles .

What is worry for me is that these guys were convicted in Australian, were given passports and then even employed in high profile teaching positions in Indonesia, with links to the Australian government.

One easy solution would be to deny a passport to any Australian convicted of a sex offense.