Anchorage hostel owner charged with planning trips for child sex abuse

The owner of an Anchorage hostel traveled to Cambodia at least a dozen times in the past four years to have sex with underage girls, according to charges filed against him in federal court.

Jason Jayavarman, owner of Jason's International Youth Hostel in Midtown, admitted Wednesday to sexually abusing 13- and 14-year-old girls, starting in 2009, the charges say. Jayavarman, 43, is accused of planning a trip this month for himself and others to have sex with children.

Jayavarman was arrested at the FBI's Anchorage division office Wednesday. Federal agents with body armor raided the Eide Street hostel in the afternoon, the hostel's manager said.

Details of the FBI investigation leading up to Jayavarman's arrest were revealed in the charges filed Thursday:

In a recorded phone conversation on April 23, Jayavarman told an undercover FBI employee that he liked "young and fresh" girls for sex. Jayavarman also said he would record videos of himself sexually abusing the girls and that he had made videos in the United States, too.

The undercover investigator posed as someone interested in a trip abroad to commit such sex acts and asked if Jayavarman would be able to "arrange for a child to be delivered to him and his friends."

Jayavarman said he could.

"Jayavarman continued by telling the (investigator) the proper way to groom a child so as not to create problems with her family or the authorities in Cambodia," the charges say. "Jayavarman explained that he knew someone who could (get) girls as young as 12 or 13 years old."

The investigator flew to Anchorage to meet with Jayavarman in a hotel room.

Jayavarman said the girls he could get were Vietnamese and told the investigator not to worry about the Cambodian police. If the police questioned anything, Jayavarman said, "give them $10 and they will go away."

He went on to discuss the best ways to make video "mementos" of the sex, including what he thought was the best camera equipment and ways to store the video and digital images.

In July, the undercover investigator and Jayavarman started planning their trip in earnest, deciding to leave Aug. 21. Jayavarman said he would get himself a girl and wanted to visit land he said he owns in Cambodia.

"(The investigator said) they were interested in young girls ages 11 or 12 and asked if this would be OK. Jayavarman stated they would find the young girls and reminded the (investigator) that this was private business and should not be talked about in public."

They met again in person on Wednesday. Jayavarman said he had purchased his ticket. Later, FBI Special Agent Steve Forrest and Anchorage detective Lenny Torres confronted Jayavarman, who admitted to having sex with underage girls.

"Jayavarman acknowledged this is illegal activity in Cambodia but stated it is cultural," the charges say.

Records subpoenaed from airlines and the Cambodian National Police matched the dates Jayavarman admitted to traveling to Cambodia to have sex with girls. He traveled there 12 times, starting in 2009.

FBI spokesman Eric Gonzalez said Jayavarman was arrested at the Anchorage district office later Wednesday.

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Alaskan Man Convicted of Sexually Exploiting Children in Cambodia

Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--March 24, 2015. An Anchorage, Alaska, man was convicted yesterday for sexually exploiting children in Cambodia over the course of four years and attempting to arrange a child sex tourism trip for himself and others to Cambodia, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler of the District of Alaska.

Jason Jayavarman, 45, was convicted of sexual exploitation of children and attempted travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. A sentencing hearing will take place before U.S. District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason of the District of Alaska, and will be scheduled at a later date. Jayavarman remains in custody pending sentencing.

The evidence presented at trial established that Jayavarman had produced multiple videos of himself engaging in sexual acts with a child in Cambodia over the course of 12 trips between 2010 and his arrest in 2013. Jayavarman then transported the recordings back to the United States.

The evidence also detailed a trip that Jayavarman had planned for himself and others to Cambodia for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with children as young as 12 years old. Unbeknownst to Jayavarman, one of the individuals was an undercover FBI agent. According to the evidence presented at trial, Jayavarman explained to the undercover agent how to groom a child for sex, how to avoid law enforcement and how to record high quality “mementos” of the sexual activity.

Jayavarman’s child exploitation activities came to light following a concerned citizen’s anonymous tip.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Anchorage Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ravi Sinha of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey J. Renschen of the District of Alaska.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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