Sex tourism charges dismissed against Bainbridge Island man

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court is dismissing an indictment against a Washington state man accused of traveling to Asia to have sex with minors.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the indictment against Gary Jackson only met one of two elements enabling a prosecution under April 2003 federal legislation making such conduct punishable in the United States.

Jackson faced years behind bars if convicted under the Exploitation of Children Today Act. But the appeals court said the law did not apply to Jackson because it required that he travel to the foreign country and engage in illegal sex acts after the law was passed.

Jackson, of Bainbridge Island, moved to Cambodia in 2001, well before the law was adopted. He was accused of having sex with boys in Cambodia after the law was passed.

Jackson pleaded guilty in 2005 to having sex with children under 18 in Cambodia on the condition that he could challenge the law on grounds it did not apply to him.

"Gary Jackson admits to committing despicable sexual acts with children — acts that led to Jackson's arrest by the Cambodian police," Judge Marsha Berzon wrote for the three-judge appellate panel. "Yet his abhorrent conduct does not give us license to ignore the elements of criminal statues that Congress has established."

The case is United States v. Jackson, 05-30058.