B.C. man pleads guilty to sex tourism charges

Updated Thu. Jun. 2 2005 8:29 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The first person to face criminal prosecution in Canada for sex crimes allegedly committed abroad has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault.

Donald Bakker was charged under Canada's so-called sex-tourism law and entered his plea in a Vancouver courtroom on Wednesday.

Three of the guilty pleas involved attacks on adult prostitutes in British Columbia, with the other seven involving children in a foreign country.

The foreign country as well as the details of the alleged crimes are subject to a publication ban.

Bakker, a former employee of Vancouver's Pan Pacific Hotel, had been facing a total of 38 charges.

The 40-year-old father of one was arrested in December, after a prostitute ran screaming from the bushes as Bakker followed with a bag containing a video camera and other equipment.

According to Bakker's lawyer, Kevin McCullough, the allegations have been tough to deal with.

"He's stunned by what he has done," McCullough told a provincial court judge on Wednesday. "He wishes to tell the court he will never be in court again."

The case has been called precedent-setting, as it was the first chance for a court to test the section of the Criminal Code that was amended to allow for the prosecution of Canadians who sexually abuse children while overseas.

Enacted in June 2002, the law gives the Crown authority to prosecute sex offences committed abroad, regardless of the foreign jurisdiction's own laws or attitudes.

Canada is one of more than 60 countries worldwide with laws aimed at eradicating child-sex tourism. About half of those countries have laws that specifically target extraterritorial offences.

With files from The Canadian Press