14 year old pregnant girl rescued after stepfather’s sexual assault
A Thai woman working as a call centre scammer in Cambodia urged a Thai social media influencer to rescue her 14 year old daughter who is now pregnant after being sexually assaulted by her stepfather.
The mother asked Guntouch “Gun” Pongpaiboonwet to visit her house in the Ko Kha district in the northern province of Lampang to check on her 14 year old daughter. The woman said she has been unable to contact her teenage daughter for two weeks and is concerned for her safety.
The woman confided in Gun, admitting that she is involved with a call centre scam gang in Cambodia. She disclosed that she had entrusted her daughter to her new husband, 35 year old Chatchadakorn, in Lampang. She later learned that Chatchadakorn raped her daughter and she is five months pregnant.
The woman asked her friend in Thailand to report the matter to the police. Chatchadakorn got wind of his wife’s pleas and threatened her friend not to file a complaint. Chatchadakorn said he would shame her daughter in public that she was pregnant as a result of indiscriminate sexual activity with men.
Chatchadakorn informed the woman he had signed a marriage certificate with the teenage girl and expressed his wish to part ways with his current wife as a consequence of meeting her daughter. He also allegedly pressured the woman to send him money every month.
The woman shared concern about her inability to reach her daughter over the past two weeks and expressed her desire to speak with her. However, she disclosed that she was unable to return to Thailand due to insufficient funds to secure her release from the gang holding her captive.
Gun and officers from Ko Kha Police Station, Social Development and Human Security Office, and Lampang Children and Family Shelter rescued the 14 year old girl from Chatchadakorn’s house yesterday, March 21.
Chatchadakorn was also arrested at the scene. He admitted to having sex with the girl and claimed that she was willing. He stated that he did not do anything wrong because the girl’s mother and her family together with people in the community knew that he and the girl were husband and wife.
Despite his claim, Chatchadakorn was charged under Section 277 of the Criminal Law: sexually assaulting children under the age of 15. The penalty is imprisonment between five and 20 years and a fine of between 100,000 and 400,000 baht.
