Two Americans and a Brazilian couple were arrested early this morning at a nudist colony in southern Brazil on suspected involvement in a pedophile and child-trafficking ring, police said.
About 30 officers raided their home at the colony in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul at around 6 a.m. local time. Frederic Calvin Louderback 63, and his partner, Barbara Anner, 54, are
suspected of taking part in the sexual abuse of at least 10 boys and are alleged to be responsible for the suspected trafficking of two other boys to the United States, one of whom may have have been adopted.
Louderback, a native of Virgina, had been living in Brazil for seven years and ran an organization called New Face, which offered English lessons and sporting activities for young boys from poorer neighborhoods near the colony.
The police commissioner in charge of the investigation, Juliano Ferreiro, told ABC News that information had been received in March of suspected pedophile activity at the couple's home in the colony. An investigation was then mounted, which culminated in today's arrests.
Ten boys have since come forward with witness statements and are being questioned by police and psychologists from the State Department for Children and Adolecents before they were returned to their families.
Police also arrested a Brazilian couple at the colony. Andrea Ricardo Lisboa Redy and Clecy Machado Jager, from Rio de Janeiro, are suspected of aiding Louderbeck and Anne in abusing the minors.
The Brazilian TV channel, Globo, broadcast pictures of the raid, showing Louderbeck shouting at journalists who accompanied the arresting police officers.
Police also found laptop computers, photos, DVDs, VHS tapes and a video camera.
All four are now being questioned by police, and the FBI was contacted for more information on Louderback and Anner.
It is unclear whether the couple will face deportation but if found guilty, the pair could face a jail sentence in Brazil of 30 years.
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