San Francisco businessman convicted of raping teen boy

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) -- A U.S. businessman was convicted of raping a teenage boy and sentenced to more than seven years in jail in Mexico.
Thomas Frank White, of San Francisco, who has spent the last four years jailed in Thailand and Mexico on allegations of having sex with minors, was sentenced to 7 years and 7 1/2 months in prison, Judge Laila Adriana Cholula said Tuesday.
White's lawyer in Mexico could not be reached for comment, but court officials expect the case will be appealed to the Jalisco State Supreme Court.
A friend said White, being held in a prison outside the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta, was shaken by Monday's verdict and planned to replace his legal team.
"He is a little bit shocked," Pat Kelly, who visits White daily in his cell, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
White, who founded the brokerage firm Thomas White & amp; Co. in 1978, was arrested in Thailand in 2003 at the behest of Mexican officials and later extradited.
In August, White agreed to pay 7 million to settle two civil suits filed by American and Mexican youths who claimed they were molested by the financier. That settlement was approved by a federal judge in San Francisco, but was later appealed.
International child advocates say White's case is just one example of how Americans are traveling overseas to have sex with minors.
But Kelly said White is being singled out without proof.
"There was a lot of political pressure in this case," Kelly said. "Thomas White is the poster child for sex tourism in Mexico -- a lot of people are invested in his guilt."
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