A convicted sex offender from Illinois has been charged with a string of heinous crimes committed against minors in Nepal. Kenneth Joseph Coombs, 58, of Collinsville, Illinois, faces eight counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors and one count of committing those offenses while required to register as a sex offender.
According to court documents, Coombs traveled from the United States to Nepal in August 2016 and proceeded to sexually abuse underage boys while staying at a hotel in the country between August and September of that year. Each of the first eight counts of the indictment is premised on his sexual abuse of a different child in Nepal. Coombs used a combination of force, involuntary intoxication, and payments to the children to commit the sex acts.
The investigation revealed that Coombs took photos of some of the children engaged in the sexually explicit conduct he directed, and those photos were recovered from his electronic devices by law enforcement. At the time Coombs committed these offenses, he was required to register as a sex offender based on having a qualifying prior sex offense conviction in the state of Missouri.
Coombs was previously convicted in Nepal of pedophilia and served a nine-year prison term. He was arrested by U.S. law enforcement following his deportation from Nepal to the United States in 2026. The superseding indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Illinois on June 17, 2026.
The charges against Coombs carry severe penalties, and his case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of holding individuals accountable for their crimes, especially those that involve the exploitation and abuse of vulnerable children. The investigation and prosecution of Coombs’ case are ongoing, and the U.S. Department of Justice is committed to bringing justice to the victims and their families.
Source: Department of Justice
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