Greyman Blog

These Armidale Class Patrol Boats are primarily tasked with border protection, fisheries patrols, immigration, customs and drug law enforcement operations, although two vessels are permanently assigned to protecting the oil and gas production facilities of the North West Shelf Venture. An Armidale class boat, the fictional HMAS Hammersley, appeared in the second and third seasons of Australian military drama series Sea Patrol.

Here at Grey Man we think the ship looks great and although Shane thinks that he and his crew are a little more rough around the edges we think they are a great bunch of guys. Shane is by his own admission “the chubby grinning submariner (more shiny gold on my patch) in the front middle, the others are my lads”

HMAS GLENELG at sea in Darwin

Captain and crew

 Shane and his crew have been some of our most enthusiastic supporters with ABLE SEAMAN Brian Mobbs being continuously creative in raising charity money. According to Lt. Cdr Doolin, “So far Brian has had a poker competition, sold the rights to a swim-ex and charges people $2 every time we go to sea if they choose not to shave …. small amounts but he never lets up”. 

Recently, captain and crew had a chance to wear their Grey Man T-shirts and the Captain had this to say: 

“Just a quick update as we have now left Colombo, Sri Lanka and as you can see we played the Sri Lankan Navy in cricket.  

Unfortunately we learnt that you should NEVER play cricket in the subcontinent and we were soundly defeated. In the end ‘cricket’ was the real winner on the day!! We put up a gallant fight and as you can see the GREY MAN shirts were worn with pride (about 20 of us) and at least made us look the part. Next stop will be more cricket in India!!

My crew wear the shirts at sea, I will get a pic from my bridge with 90% of my guys in their shirts, they love the design and colour and I have sold out of nearly everything now!!”

Sri Lankan cricket

 

 

They lost but still winners

Grey Man has been quietly sending people into Cambodia for the past 6 months in order to understand the child trafficking situation there and to see which NGO’s and police Grey Man could work with in Phnom Penh and other cities. We like to know what we are up against before we commit Grey Man operatives to any theatre of operations. As a final exercise we sent our Director of Operations from Australia to discuss our involvement with likely partners in Cambodia. He spent some time investigating the red light areas and liaising with local NGO’s (especially International Justice Mission-IJM) and the police to determine the best way for Grey Man to operate in country.

Last Sunday night our Director of Operations, ‘Tony’ approached a moto driver (motorcycle taxi) to discuss the possibility of accessing some young girls. The moto driver said he could supply the girls and took ‘Tony’ to a brothel in the countryside outside Phnom Penh. The results were inconclusive as the girls did not appear to be underage but with Asian girls it is often difficult to tell. ‘Tony’ declined the offer of being a client and was returned to the city. A few days later the moto driver contacted him and said he had two girls available who were young, so ‘Tony’ arranged to meet with him and immediately informed the local office of International Justice Mission (IJM) who arranged for the police to assist.

The Moto driver took ‘Tony’ to a nearby hotel where he met with a young Cambodian pimp who took ‘Tony’ to one of the hotel rooms. There were no girls visible but when the Cambodian was asked how old the girls were he opened the bathroom door and a 14 year old and ten year old (yes, 10!!) came out. They were Vietnamese girls who had been trafficked into Cambodia.

!4 and 10 year old Vietnamese girls rescued from Cambodian pimp

A price was negotiated but ‘Tony’ said he would have to get extra cash from his hotel room. This was in order to extricate himself from the room in order to confirm to the police that the girls were actually present and that they were underage.

The Cambodian agreed and as soon as ‘Tony’ left he signalled the police and IJM.  He returned to the room on the pretext of paying the money and as per arrangements the police knocked on the door of the hotel room soon after ‘Tony’ had re-entered it. The police arrested the pimp and the moto driver. The children were taken into custody and placed with a shelter run by a British NGO.  Grey Man will fund their ongoing recovery and education and investigations are continuing to snare other traffickers.

This is our first operation in Cambodia and by all accounts a great success. It received widespread coverage in the Australian media and resulted in an overwhelming response from the Australian public. Grey Man would like to thank our Director of Operations (‘Tony’), IJM, the Cambodian Police and Grey Man supporters everywhere for allowing us to do what we do best.   What’s more with Australia Day happening the day after I can think of no greater tribute to our country on our national day than that Australians put themselves in harms way to rescue kids in South East Asia.  We should all be proud. Well done

John Curtis

our destination

In August 2010, a core of our Newcastle people will ride bikes from Newcastle to Ayers Rock to support The Grey Man.  This journey will take them 25 days, covering  2880 kilometres. The ride will not only raise awareness but produce substantial funding to expand our anti-trafficking and prevention programs. 

Planning and training is already underway, with the participants, who are all Police officers from the Lake Macquarie Command in New South Wales, getting some serious k’s under their belts. Senior Constable Joe Clancy, the organiser of the event said,

There is going to be a lot of pain on this trip, but it cannot even remotely compare to the hardship that young kids suffer at the hands of traffickers.  Grey Man volunteers place themselves in harms way to fight traffickers, and so far have rescued over 100 women and children. With more funding and support, so many more could be saved

Currently, the team are looking for seven identical mountain bikes plus spares for the event.  If anyone can assist them with donations of equipment, money or sponsorship, please email Joe Clancy at jclancy4@hotmail.com or The Grey Man at admin@thegreyman.org You can donate cash through our website www.thegreyman.org .

We will keep you updated on our adventurer’s progress.  Many thanks for your support. 

On November 11, 2009, a joint operation with the Thai CWD, Region 5 Police, Swiss Police, Forensic Police and The Grey Man resulted in the arrest of a former  Swiss banker, Cornel Josef Wietlisbach.  The arrest made the front page of a number of Thai newspapers as well as Blick newspaper in Switzerland.  After receiving intelligence from a young boy who had been abused a Grey Man surveillance team watched the suspects hotel room and noticed a number of Akha hill tribe boys going to Wietlisbach’s room.  Ethnic minority groups, such as the Akha, are a typical target of peadophiles due to their poverty.On the basis of the testimony of the young boy and the surveillance material  an arrest warrant was issued.  In the joint operation Wietlisbach opened the door and a police officer then told him that he was under arrest on the charge of sexual penetration of a child under the age of fifteen. The suspect showed some resistance to his arrest but finally calmed down. The police announced his basic rights and took him into custody. There were two boys sleeping in the bed and they were taken to the police station in a separate vehicle.

Searching suspects room

Wietlisbach denied all charges and refused to say a word until his lawyer arrived.  A search of his room found an external Flash Drive and a digital camera contained pictures of unidentified naked boys.  Other forensic evidence was also collected.

Wietlisbach was denied bail and his court case will be scheduled for 2010.  A nice christmas present for Grey Man but no happy new year for Wietlisbach.

Cheers

John Curtis

Wietlisbach arrested

If you LOVE great Thai food, good company, entertainment and would like to help make a difference to children at risk from trafficking in Thailand, then don’t miss our fundraising dinner in Melbourne on November 26!

Please join us to enjoy a delicious six course banquet, charity auction and Thai dancing.  Visit the events page at www.thegreyman.org to find out more.  See you there!

The Grey Man Team

Thai-Burmese border crossing at Mae Sai

We received this e-mail below from a gentleman in Mae Sai, on the Thai-Burmese border.  We met with him 6 months ago as part of increasing our intelligence network and recently it paid off.

‘Hi John

Late this afternoon we were informed by one of our children (boy aged about 10 yrs) who visits our Drop in Centre (DiC) that he has regularly been sexually abused by a man who also comes into our DiC. On making further enquires my staff inform me that this man has also abused three 3 young girls two sisters aged 9 & 12, another girl aged 7 and possibly a girl aged about 4………I do not know who I can trust in the local police as some would not deal with this situation in a professional way, therefore I do not know who to contact.  I am aware that you have trustworthily contacts and would appreciate some urgent advice……’

The children were part of the never-ending flow of children who are trafficked into begging gangs and end up homeless on the streets of Mae Sai.  Grey Man immediately put our Thai Director of Operations on to it.  Within a short space of time the children had been secured, taken to hospital to be checked, the police informed and children taken to be interviewed under the care of Grey Man personnel.  They were then taken to a shelter that we have good connections with for their protection. 

Luckily, the Burmese perpetrator was found to be in custody on another charge and we simply added rape and a variety of other charges to his sheet.  He will be sentenced very soon and will do jail time.  The children are safe and happy.  It isn’t usually as easy as this but we were very happy with the outcome.

The following recent email from the gentleman running the drop in centre says it all:

‘Dear John

Many thanks for your contribution in the recent situation, it was appreciated. I will definitely contact Grey Man should we encounter similar situations again.  The police handled the case professionally and it was in court in a record time. I would like to think that this was due to their concerns and commitment, however it is more likely because they knew your team was overseeing the operation. 

Kind words and possibly true but we had good co-operation from the Mae Sai police and we thank them for their assistance.  They don’t always have the resources to follow up every case of abuse but they do their best.  Sometimes they just need a little help.

This was a good day.

John Curtis

In April this year Grey Man was asked to assist the Crimes Against Women and Children Division (CWD) of the Royal Thai Police in an operation in Pattaya, Thailand. 

Pattaya

Reliable information alleged that a group of foreign tourists were abusing young boys of 14-15 years of age.  Further investigation confirmed that a group of men, Swedish, English, and Australian were involved. The Royal Thai Police, Nordic Police and Customs, Swedish National Crime police and Grey Man operatives began a joint investigation, codenamed Snapper.  

Joint planning for Operation Snapper

As it turned out, two of the gang  were well known to Swedish police, due to their previous history.  On 12^th May, with the assistance of Grey Man funding and personnel, the CWD arrested three of the suspects at an apartment located in Banglamung, Pattaya. They were Swedish and British nationals all aged in their 60’s. A further eight suspects are still at large, but Police have enough evidence to arrest them.  Two are known to have escaped Thailand: one a Western tourist and the other a Thai man known as Pan.  All are being hunted presently by International police.

Thailand’s Child Protection Division’s Police Major General Chaiwat Gaetworachai said that the arrested had abused many children in the Pattaya area.   During the arrests, Police officers found and confiscated sex toys, still and video cameras, computers and a photo album of naked children.  If found guilty they face long prison sentences.  Although a number of the ring are still at large, due to the fact that some were out of the country when the arrest warrants were issued, we believe they will all be caught in the near future and that the children of Pattaya are slightly safer due to our efforts. 

One of the young victims points out the suspects

Many boys were interviewed to gather evidence against these people and we respect their courage in being willing to make statements and testify in court. 

Every child abuser that we arrest prevents the future abuse of many children.  Our thanks to the CWD and the members of the Scandinavian Police units involved and especially to our Grey Man operatives who were instrumental in the arrest of these men.

These operations are funded by you so we can only do what you allow us to do.  A big thankyou to all the Grey Man supporters worldwide who enable us to continue this great work to protect children.

John Curtis

Shades of Grey - INSIGHT INTO THE GREY MAN

AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC-TVMONDAY 15 JUNE 8.00PM

The Story

ABC - GreyMan on Australian Story

In April 2009, an ABC-TV Australian Story film crew travelled to Northern Thailand to film some of The Grey Man (TGM) key people and partners at work. Next week you will have a glimpse into TGM life, meet the main players and learn how rescues are swiftly and daringly executed.

See where The Grey Man works, how intelligence is gathered and used. Share some of the success stories and meet Peng (not her real name), the girl who innocently almost fell prey to the illicit sex trade.

Broadcast Times

Australian Story is televised on ABC-TV Mondays at 8.00pm and repeated on Saturdays at 12.30pm. You can also see the show on ABC2 on Tuesdays at 8.00pm

If you happened to miss the broadcast - you can watch it “here” about 4hrs after it airs.

You may remember that 8 weeks ago we rescued a young 15 year old girl called Peng (not her real name) and just the other evening we had the opportunity to catch up with her again here in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  She is a really shy, beautiful, 16 year old now who loves practising traditional Thai dancing and is doing pretty well at school. 

Peng on the night she was rescued

She told us the other evening that if Grey Man had not been there on the night she was sold she would never have been able to see her mother again because of the shame she would have felt.  Luckily, Grey Man was there and Peng now has a promising future if she gets access to a good education.

Presently she is attending a Welfare school which is available to people on a low income and free to attend but it means that she has to live away from her mother.  These schools do not provide a quality education and Peng has the potential to go on to University.  She would like to become a nurse so that she can help other people.

Peng does not fall under the normal Grey Man guidelines for assistance because she was not sent to a shelter.  She was able to be returned to her mother without danger and we don’t normally get involved with assistance in these cases.

However, we do not want to waste her potential and so I am appealing to you for help.  To pay for her schooling at a preferred school for the next 2 years will cost around 15,000 baht per year.  That is only $600 per year or $50 per month.  Here is a chance for YOU to make a significant difference in the quality of life of another human being. 

So I urge you to consider that for a small amount of money by western standards, you can change one life for the better.  If you want to support Peng please contact me by e-mail at admin@thegreyman.org and we will work out the details.  Even small individual contributions will quickly add up to the required amount and anything extra will go towards her continuing education.  Just let us know by e-mail that you want your contribution to go towards Peng’s education.  Thank you in advance for being in the arena with us and not just a spectator.

John

In a recent Grey Man operation we arrested two suspected child abusers who were involved with a charity working with Hill-Tribe children.  The arrests have finally been announced in an English language newspaper in Chiang Mai (see below). 

Chiang Mai Mail article reporting the arrests

Why have I titled this blog ‘The Tip of the Iceberg’?  Because what is happening here is not an isolated incident. 

 A few years ago two British nationals, Duncan Grant and Alan Waters ran the Anchorage Shelters in India.  These shelters housed a large number of street children aged between 8-18 years.   A police investigation revealed that Grant and Waters were sexually abusing the children under their care and that a large number of foreign paedophiles were regularly visiting the Shelters and taking the children to Goa where the children were also being sexually abused.

The trial was delayed on account of the fact that Grant and Waters had absconded from India after the facts became public. The Government, through Interpol, issued international red corner alerts for the arrest of Grant and Waters. Waters was arrested on his arrival at New York airport, and after a lengthy extradition process and after he exhausted all appellate avenues, he was extradited to India to stand trial.  Duncan Grant was found to be hiding in Tanzania where he had started similar shelters for children. He was deported to Britain and forced to return to India to stand trial.  Unfortunately, both men were found not guilty as the court did not believe the children’s testimony.  Yet another travesty of justice.