Serial rapist posing as transgender model recruiter arrested in Bangkok

Police in Bangkok apprehended a 60 year old man who allegedly impersonated a transgender to lure young women into fake modelling opportunities, where he would sexually assault them. He allegedly confessed to raping around 100 women.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau’s investigative head, Theeradet Thumsuthee, yesterday confirmed the arrest of Sonthichai Yusuparp in a room within a slum community located in Bangkok’s Dusit district.

According to official reports, Sonthichai was declared a rape suspect by the Criminal Court back on June 27. Coming to his track record, Sonthichai was previously apprehended in connection with 14 rape cases back in 2015. He professed that his victims numbered at least 100 women, comprising government officials, company executives, as well as bachelor’s and master’s degree students. After serving jail time, the accused was released on May 20 last year.

The alleged rapist made a practice of impersonating a transgender individual seeking attractive women at shopping malls during the weekends with the pretext of enrolling them into the entertainment industry. The victims would then be taken to hotels under the guise of auditions, where the assaults unfurled.

Earlier yesterday before his arrest, Sonthichai allegedly attempted the same ploy with a woman from a music school at a shopping centre in the Lat Phrao region using an alias, Bua. The perpetrator, who was unsuccessful in his attempt, absconded from the victim’s condominium.

Leading up to his arrest, detectives had been scouting for Sonthichai across shopping centres in Bangkok for a fortnight. The suspect was finally spotted leading to a plainclothes policewoman pretending to be seeking an entertainment job, engaging with him, reported Bangkok Post.

From 1992 to 2009, the accused had been involved in various professional domains such as construction, truck driving, production work, security services, and curtain installation. He was reportedly in the habit of switching both jobs and residences across the capital frequently within intervals of one to five months.

The decisive twist came about in 2009 when the suspect acquainted himself with an individual from the entertainment industry. It was then that he began impersonating a transgender individual claiming to be a modelling agent, according to Theeradet Thumsuthee.