My Undercover War Against the Child Sex Trade in Asia

In northern Thailand a 12-year-old girl is sold to a middle-aged western man for sex. It's a transaction as ordinary as it is disgusting. In this case, however, the man in question is not a paedophile – he is a rescuer, working undercover to free child sex slaves from an appalling life of exploitation and misery, securing their freedom as well as seeing to their subsequent long-term care, nurturing and education.

The rescuer works for an organisation known simply as The Grey Man, an Australian army term for a quiet and dedicated professional who operates under the radar. This unique organisation is the brainchild of John Curtis, a former special forces soldier who has put his talents, energy and passion into fighting the child sex trade throughout Asia.

The Grey Man documents John Curtis's personal story, from his restless early life to his military career and his search for meaning in his life – a search that took him to northern Thailand and the dramatic first rescue of a young victim of the sex trade. In the years since Curtis rescued that first child, The Grey Man has gone on to rescue literally hundreds of women and children in Thailand and Cambodia. The organisation, now an official charity working with other NGOs and law enforcement agencies, has also contributed to the arrest of paedophiles from Australia, Europe and the US. Their work continues today, with plans to expand into several other countries.