Oprah goes after sexual predators

Oprah goes after sexual predators THE SUN NEW YORK: US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, whose influence can turn the New York Times bestseller list on its head, is having a similar impact on the FBI's most wanted list with a campaign to catch fugitive paedophiles. Winfrey launched Oprah's Child Predator Watch List, which features a round-up of the FBI's most wanted sex offenders, last week, to almost immediate results. Within 48 hours, federal agents had picked up William Davis, 33, in North Dakota follow ing a tip from two Oprah viewers. "We were happily surprised," said Rex Tomb, chief of the FBI's fugitive publicity and public affairs unit. Shortly afterwards, another absconding child molester, Niles Scott, 50, was arrested in Belize City, Belize, after a local woman recognised him from the show and contacted local authorities. Scott was flown back to Cleveland, where he is awaiting trial on charges of molesting three boys. The swift results were testimony to the huge audience Winfrey's syndicated talk show enjoys, pulling in around 30 million viewers a day and reaching 112 countries. "She has an enormous audience that cuts across most demographic boundaries and it has been tremendously helpful," Tomb said. "We see this as an extremely beneficial development." Winfrey, 51, who was named the world's most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine in June, has sweetened her campaign by offering US$100,000 (RM376,000) of her own money for each fugitive brought to justice. On Tuesday's broadcast of the Oprah Winfrey Show, the talk show host handed over two cheques for US$50,000 (RM188,000) to the two women responsible for turning in Davis. "This is the best money I've ever spent," she said. Winfrey, who was molested as a child, has devoted many shows to the issue of sexual predators, but her new campaign to publicise fugitives' identities has taken her involvement to a new level. "With every breath in my body, whatever it takes and, most importantly, with you by my side, we are going to move heaven and earth to stop an evil that's been going on for far too long," Winfrey said on her show. Tomb said the number of calls received by the FBI's tip line had spiked significantly since Winfrey launched the new watch list. ­