A Goa court on Saturday convicted Australian national Warner Wulf Ingo for paedophilia in connection with a racket busted in the state 16 years ago.

Freddy Peats, the main accused in the racket, was convicted in March 1996, but died in April 2005 while in prison.

Ingo's sentence will be pronounced by the court on March seven.

The racket, was initially investigated by local police, before being handed over to the CBI as per the orders of Goa bench of the Bombay high court.

This was done after Mumbai-based child rights activist Sheela Barse approached the court, complaining that police were not serious in their investigations.

Ingo, an accomplice of Peats, was an important link in the paedophilia racket, which operated under the garb of the Gurukul Orphanage at Fatorda, a small town in Margao, according to CBI charge sheet.

Ingo, 44, was arrested in Sydney and brought to India in 2005.

The Margao police busted the racket that had operated for a decade in 1991.

Earlier, Peats, arrested on April 3, 1991 was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Central jail in Aguada.

He died at Goa Medical College hospital after suffering a paralytic attack.

Later, his accomplice New Zealander Eoghan Colm McBride was also sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years in July 2002 for running a child prostitution racket in the southern coastal belt here along with Peats.

Dominique Sabir from France, another accused, was arrested in 1996 but jumped bail and is still absconding.

All the accused are charged with committing offences of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, and selling minors for prostitution.