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Michael Sebastian was sentenced on Wednesday, July 10, to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release after that, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. He pleaded guilty to three counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places in December.
He was arrested in July 2020.
“Mr. Sebastian took advantage of young, vulnerable children in his care and forced them to perform sexual acts for his gratification, said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. "Instead of providing a safe home for learning as he had promised, these children were manipulated by the defendant to take part in disturbing behaviors. The depraved conduct directed at children is startling and, as this case demonstrates, our office and our federal law enforcement partners are committed to aggressively prosecuting individuals who sexually abuse children."
Sebastian taught English to poor children in Laos and allowed the kids to live in his apartment. Anyone of the students who could not afford to pay a portion of the rent was made to perform "chores," including giving him massages while he was naked or pleasuring him sexually, the prosecutors said.
Sebastian was accused of sexually abusing three children who lived with him from May 2018 until March 2020.
Sebastian first moved to Luang Prabang, Laos, in 2008 and started the program S.M.I.L.E. (Supporting Multitudes In Life and Education), which provided impoverished children with free education, nutritional aid, and healthcare, the Laotian Times reported.
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