Kathmandu, July 20 : A 58-year-old American citizen,Kenneth Joseph Coombs, who previoiusly served a nine-year prison sentence in Nepal for child sexual abuse, has now been found guilty in a U.S. federal court for the same crimes committed in Nepal.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs announced the verdict on Friday through its official website.
After completing his sentence in Nepal and returning to the United States, Coombs was arrested by U.S. law enforcement authorities in September 2025.According to the Department of Justice, his sentencing is scheduled for October 28in a US federal court.
The case in Nepal began after the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) launched an investigation into a child trafficking and exploitation syndicate that was transporting children from remote villages to cities to supply them to foreign pedophiles.
On September 9, 2016, CIB officers arrested Coombs at Yambu Hotel in Thamel, Kathmandu, along with his local accomplice, Buddha Putuwar, a 21-year-old resident of Swayambhu. On April 23, 2017, the Kathmandu District Court sentenced Coombs to nine years in prison, while Putuwar received a four-year sentence.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Coombs abused eight children during his stay in Nepal in 2016, using force, involuntary intoxication, and monetary inducements. He also took sexually explicit photographs of the victims, which were later recovered from his electronic devices.
The U.S. Department of Justice further noted that the investigation received assistance from the U.S. Embassy in Nepal, Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau, the Kathmandu District Attorney’s Office, and Nepali NGO Naya Paila.
