Monk defrocked and charged with child abuse
by Suriya Patathayo
Another Buddhist monk has been arrested and defrocked. The allegations involve sexual violations against boys and posting pornographic content online.
Leading the investigation, Pol Lt General Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of Thailand’s Action Taskforce for Information Technology Crime Suppression says that the former monk has confessed that he has committed the crimes for more than 10 years.
“Whenever his behaviour was exposed at a temple, he would simply move to another”
The suspect, now defrocked, has been identified as 40 year old Sikarin Klaisuwan.
“He opted for temples that had often organised mass ordinations for novice monks because there were plenty of boys for him to approach,” Surachate said.
He said Sikarin was being charged for abusing boys under the age of 15. The charges carry a jail term of 4-20 years and a fine of 80,000-400,000 baht.
Surachate said police found Sikarin had kept many clips of sexual assaults against boys at his quarters in Kanchanaburi province.
In a separate case police found a 30 year old monk in Khon Kaen province was releasing pornographic content on the Line and Facebook platforms. The suspect was identified as Danainat Saengphan.
“He apparently lured girls into talking to him and sending their nude photos to him without them knowing that he was a monk,” Surachate said.
In yet another case, Surachete revealed that his agency also arrested an 82 year old German for possessing child pornography.
SOURCE: The Nation
