Cambodia Netherlands: Fugitive paedophile Pieter Ceulen arrested

Ceulen was wanted by Interpol to serve his jail sentence in Belgium

A convicted Dutch paedophile who was on the run from a 19-year prison sentence has been arrested in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.

Pieter Ceulen was spotted while looking for a job as a teacher, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Sentenced by a Belgian court in January for sex offences against children, he had fled while out on bail.

Ceulen, 60, is expected to be handed over to the Belgian and Dutch authorities.

He is being held at a police station in the capital after his lawyers negotiated his surrender with the Cambodian authorities, the Phnom Penh Post reports.

Ceulen was detained after visiting a school in Siem Reap, looking for a job as a teacher.

Finding him suspicious, a Belgian volunteer searched a Facebook page for expats and recognised him as a wanted paedophile, De Telegraaf reports.

Ceulen had been sentenced in absentia for distributing child pornography and sexual abuse of minors. He had also been accused of abusing children in Cambodia and the Philippines.