Ayutthaya acting school director arrested for sexually assaulting 13 schoolboys
Police yesterday arrested an acting school director in the central province of Ayutthaya for sexually assaulting 13 schoolboys aged between eight and 12 years old.
The child sex abuse at a school in the Bang Sai district of Ayutthaya came to light after the parents of one of the victims discovered it from their son. The parents then filed a complaint against the suspect at Bang Sai Police Station, the acting director of the school, based on their son’s account.
The parents told police that their son refused to go to school and had a noticeable change in his personality. They persuaded the boy to tell them the reason for his refusal, and he revealed that he had been raped by the acting school director in an empty classroom.
The parents raised the matter with other parents and discovered that 13 schoolboys, aged between eight and 12, fell victim to the director, later identified as 44 year old Chatchanon Thaneerat.
Following the large number of victims and compelling evidence, police arrested Chatchanon at the Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Primary Educational Service Area Office 1 yesterday, March 6. He was taken to the police station for questioning.
Chatchanon denied the accusations, but police continued the legal proceedings due to the clear evidence. Police charged the acting school director with two offences:
- Section 279 of the Criminal Law: sexually assaulting a minor under 13 years old. The penalty is imprisonment from one to ten years, a fine from 20,000 to 200,000 baht, or both.
- Section 317 of the Criminal Law: taking children aged under 15 years old from their parents. The penalty is imprisonment from three to 15 years and a fine from 6,000 to 30,000 baht.
In June of last year, a sexual assault on a 14 year old schoolboy in Bangkok garnered public attention. The boy sought justice after his male teacher repeatedly raped him in the classroom for more than two years. The teacher threatened him not to tell anyone about the matter.
The boy kept the matter to himself until the teacher’s sadistic behaviour became increasingly violent. During the teacher’s arrest, officers found numerous child sex videos on his mobile phone.
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