17 years for San Diego man guilty of sex tourism in RP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 61-year-old San Diego man who traveled to the Philippines and paid to have sex with underage boys was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in federal prison and lifetime supervision.

Edilberto Datan, a retired auditor for the California Department of Real Estate, pleaded guilty earlier this year and admitted to having sex with eight boys, ages 14 and 15, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

Datan also will be required to pay restitution to his victims. The amount of restitution will be determined at a hearing in August.

Datan was arrested Nov. 4, 2004, at Los Angeles International Airport while returning from a trip to Cebu Island in his native Philippines.

Authorities said they found about 150 sexually explicit images of 18 teenage Filipino boys in Datan’s luggage and digital camera.

Only eight of the children were identified and located by the Philippine National Police. Authorities said Datan paid the boys for sex with money, clothing and food.

A search of Datan’s San Diego home the next day turned up sexually explicit photos of child victims from prior trips to the Philippines and a large collection of pornographic images of children.

Federal officials said Datan’s name surfaced during an investigation into a Belarus-based company that provided billing services to subscribers of child porn Web sites, authorities said.

Datan was one of about a dozen men across America charged under a law adopted in 2003 that included provisions increasing the penalties for those convicted of engaging in sex with minors overseas. The law also eased the burden of proof for prosecutors.