Thai man held for running “Little Angel” child porn group

Amid growing concern over child exploitation, an individual running a child pornography distribution group labelled Little Angel, infamous for its cache of over 1,000 child sex videos, has been apprehended. Abhisit, the 29 year old behind the group was arrested at a house in the Sattahip district of Chon Buri.

The arrest ensued, thanks to the vigilant activities of Police Colonel Kuekkong Disawat, superintendent of Sub-division 5 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD). Abhisit was a fugitive evading a warrant issued by the Pattaya Provincial Court earlier last week connected to the Little Angel group. The arrest followed charges of child pornography possession intended for profit or participation in the creation of child pornographic material.

Officers from the ATPD had previously arrested another individual suspected of enticing underage girls to participate in sexual acts, recorded and later disseminated through social media platforms. Subsequent investigations led law enforcement officials to uncover the Little Angel group, a hub for distributing over 1,000 explicit videos of underage girls. Allegedly, the group profited from the solicitation of membership fees, ranging between 100 to 300 baht per view.

An undercover operation to infiltrate the Little Angel chat group resulted in the location and subsequent arrest of Abhisit. In his confessions during interrogation, he admitted to the establishment of the group, and the purchase of the explicit content from similar groups on the LINE app.

Abhisit reportedly set up the Little Angel chat group to incentivise membership fee collection. He justified his actions with his need to financially support his 10 years old daughter. Upon the conclusion of his questioning, the authorities from ATPD Sub-division 5 took over, to subject him to additional legal processes, reported Bangkok Post.

The arrest comes on the heels of an incident in the Deep South province of Pattani that put a spotlight on the subject of child exploitation. At a recent sports day event children were paraded holding images of deceased insurgents. The sight has sparked social unrest, especially given the already-high tensions in the deep south, with critics calling it a form of child exploitation.