Interpol have released a photograph of a suspected sex offender after police managed to undo Photoshop actions designed to obscure the man’s identity.

The investigation – codenamed Vico – is an attempt to track down the man, who appears to be European, between 35 and 40 and who has dark receding hair.

The man appears in around 200 internet photographs of abuse of pre-teen Cambodian and Vietnamese boys, but his face was digitally disguised in the original photographs by a photo software filter which moved pixels around in a swirl pattern.

However, because the actual picture data still remained in the image, computer scientists at Germany’s Bundeskriminalamt were able to ‘reverse-map’ the pixels back into their original position, and obtain a close likeness to the original image.

‘For years images of this man sexually abusing children have been circulating on the Internet” said Interpol’s Secretary General Ronald K. Noble. “We have tried all other means to identify and to bring him to justice, but we are now convinced that without the public’s help this sexual predator could continue to rape and sexually abuse young children whose ages appear to range from six to early teens.”

Interpol made the appeal after being unable to trace the man through other lines of inquiry. Other photographs of the man are also available on the investigation website.

Anyone with information which may be useful to the inquiry are asked to contact local police or by emailing Interpol.