American tourist held for sexually harassing boy

Kolkata: A middle-aged American tourist was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a 14-year-old local boy inside his room at a five-star hotel, police said on Saturday.

Following a complaint by the general manager of the hotel, Bidhannagar Police arrested 51-year-old Leslie A Powell yesterday.

The complaint was based on the statement of the victim, who had befriended the accused through Facebook.

"The accused is a tourist but how he became a friend with the boy through Facebook is still unclear. We are looking into the details," a senior officer of Bidhannagar Police said.

Powell has gifted the boy a pair of football boots and a sports bag and also promised to give him a bicycle, he said.

Police were looking into the CCTV footages of the hotel as part of the investigation.

Powell was today remanded to jail custody and will be produced before the Barasat Special Court on Monday.