A German child porn suspect on the run from the US told court yesterday he had fled because he had been discriminated against.

The restaurant manager 41, was apprehended in the US in October 2011 and accused of distributing child pornography. Released on bail, he removed a tracking device he had been forced to wear and escaped three days before the start of his trial. He then flew to Malta where his parents live.

The suspect told the court he felt he needed to return to Europe where he belonged, adding that the discrimination was both personal and social and stemmed from the fact that he neither looked nor sounded American.

Deputy Attorney General Donatella Frendo Dimech said FBI investigations had yielded hundreds of child pornography and bestiality images on his laptop. His computer was seized during the case and a list of codenames was found which were used to distribute the images and video through legitimate websites.

She added that two other men involved in the same case had actually admitted their involvement and were convicted. E-mails between the perpetrators were also found containing explicit sexual conversations about child pornography. Further e-mails include conversations where people admit to having sex with minors.

Dr Frendo Dimech said the man, who is married, should have filed a civil suit in the US if he felt discriminated against instead of taking off his tracking device and absconding.

Defence lawyer Lucio Sciriha said his client’s laptop was often left in a public space and just because the e-mails were found on it, it did not mean he had sent them.

Extraditing the suspect to the US would mean a life of hardship for him because he would have no relatives there and he would have no means of supporting himself, the defence said.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri is expected to hand down a decision on July 8.