Man accused of trip for child sex

A retired St. Petersburg truck driver has been accused of traveling to several Asian countries to engage in sex acts with children as young as 7 years old, authorities said Friday.

Karl Kaechele, 62, of St. Petersburg, was arraigned Friday on a charge of traveling with intent to engage in sexual conduct. He has been held in Detroit following his arrest at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on April 26.

Greg Palmore, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Detroit, said Kaechele was returning from a 90-day trip to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Immigration agents said they found nine packs of photographs in Kaechele's luggage that included images of nude Asian girls, and three large notebooks in which Kaechele had detailed sexual encounters with girls, many younger than 15 years old.

On Wednesday, federal agents from Tampa served a search warrant on Kaechele's home and seized a computer, photographs and videos. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office could not comment on the pending investigation.

The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators - including those who travel overseas for sex with minors - Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

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