U.S. resident pleads guilty to child exploitation

The accusations, made today in Dangriga, sound eerily similar to those filed back in October of last year in Punta Gorda: a U.S. resident residing in a small town involved in the sexual exploitation of children. But unlike last year’s drama, which has yet to be resolved in the courts, the latest case has been dealt with in record time as the accused has pleaded guilty. Tonight, fifty-eight year old Emmerson Thomas sits in Hattieville prison, having been sentenced to two years in jail for human trafficking. According to officer in charge of the Dangriga police station, Justo Augustine, Thomas was caught only after they received a report of a missing child. A search led to Thomas’s house–he was known to provide treats and financial support to local children–where the child was found. While looking through the suspect?s belongings they discovered nude photographs on his computer of two Belizean girls, age fourteen and sixteen. Although Thomas has pleaded guilty and received his sentence, police expect that further investigations will result in additional charges being levied against him.