A bearded New Zealander who posed as Father Christmas so he could abuse kids has been deported back to his home country from prison in Brazil.

Sick Paul Barry Clark was arrested for raping a nine-year-old boy after posing as Santa Claus in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 2015.

After spending eight years in prison for statutory rape and child porn offences, he was deported back to New Zealand on 28th February.

He is banned from returning to Brazil for 23 years.

Officials in Brazil say his modus operandi was to pose as Father Christmas, give children pocket money, and sexually abuse them.

He was busted by Civil Police in Rio de Janeiro after the nine-year-old boy’s mother reported him to authorities after discovering he had been given BRL 50 (GBP 8).

He is also suspected of sexually abusing three other children, aged nine, 10, and 11.

Clark, 71, had lived in Brazil for nearly 20 years at the time of his arrest.

When his home was searched following his arrest, police seized a camera and a computer with explicit images of children.

Clark also has a criminal record in New Zealand.

In 1986, the Christchurch District Court sentenced him to 12 months in prison for committing 12 sexual offences against four boys.

One of his victims is said to have been as young as six.

One of his victims told media in New Zealand in 2015: “He is a vile, horrible human being.

“There is no doubt in my mind he has been doing this for 20 years in Brazil. That’s why he’s over there, because he can get away with it.”

It is not clear if he has been jailed after arriving back in his home country.