Kathmandu, July 20: Kenneth Joseph Coombs, the American national who served a nine-year prison sentence in Nepal for sexually abusing children, has been convicted by a US federal court for the same offences committed while he was in Nepal. The US Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs announced Coombs’ conviction on Friday.
According to Nepal Police’s Central Police Newsroom, Coombs, 58, was arrested by US law enforcement authorities in September 2025 after returning to the United States upon completing his prison sentence in Nepal. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
The US Department of Justice said Coombs is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28. Coombs was originally arrested in Nepal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) along with Buddha Putawar, alias Lucche, of Swayambhu, Kathmandu, who was accused of assisting him in the abuse.
The Kathmandu District Court sentenced Coombs to nine years’ imprisonment, while Putawar received a four-year prison term. According to the US Department of Justice, Coombs sexually abused eight children at a hotel in Nepal in 2016. Prosecutors said he exploited the victims through coercion, drugging and financial inducements, offering money to lure children into sexual acts.
The conviction marks a rare case in which a US citizen has been prosecuted in the United States for child sexual abuse offences committed abroad, following the completion of a prison sentence in the country where the crimes occurred. #nepal
