Thai football coach and his assistant arrested for raping boys
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD) arrested a Thai football coach and his assistant for raping young boys. Their crimes were allegedly proven by several child pornographic pictures and videos in their possession.
Two Thai women contacted the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women after learning of the sexual assaults against their 10 year old sons from a teacher at a school in the Isaan province of Udon Thani. The women revealed that the rapists were a 43 year old youth football coach named Somchai and his 64 year old assistant Somyot.
The mother explained that Somyot and Somchai set up the youth football team and asked permission to use a football field at the school. With an interest in the sport, the two boys applied to join the team. Some of the boys were asked to stay at the coach’s house to facilitate training, and the two boys were part of the group.
The coach and assistant sometimes took the team to competitions in other provinces and stayed together in hotels or resorts.
The mother of the boy identified as A stated that she only found out about the rape on November 6 when her son decided to quit the team. He returned the training equipment to the teacher, making the teacher suspicious of the motive for his resignation, as A loved football. Not long after, another boy, B, also quit the team.
The teacher continued to interrogate the two until they revealed that they had been repeatedly raped by Somchai and Somyot both at the coach’s house and at various lodgings during competitions. The teacher then contacted their mothers and told them the whole story.
Child pornography
The boys went on to reveal that they were not the only victims and that other friends in the team had suffered the same. They did not dare to resist for fear that they would never have the chance to play football again.
Somchai and Somyot allegedly called the boys into their rooms for group sex and recorded the activities in pictures and videos.
The mothers said they did not think filing a complaint with the local police would work because Somchai knew a lot of influential people in the area and Somyot was a retired soldier and instead decided to contact the foundation.
The two boys underwent medical examinations which revealed signs of sexual assault. After gathering enough evidence, the foundation handed the case over to the ATPD to issue arrest warrants and managed to arrest the two rapists yesterday, December 14.
ATPD police found a large amount of child pornography in their possession and would carry out further investigations to ensure that all the victims receive proper physical and psychological care. Officers would also investigate whether the child pornography had been distributed or sold.
The two rapists face five charges including:
- Section 277 of the Criminal Law: sexually assaulting children aged under 13 years old. The penalty will be imprisonment from seven to 20 years, a fine from 140,000 baht to 400,000 baht, or both.
- Section 279 of the Criminal Law: committing indecent against children aged under 13 years old. The penalty will be imprisonment from one to 10 years, a fine from 20,000 baht to 200,000 baht, or both.
- Section 283 of the Criminal Law: taking away children aged under 15 years old for indecent purposes. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to seven years, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both.
- Section 284 of the Criminal Law: taking away children aged under 15 years old for indecent purposes by using deception, violent acts, or other methods. The penalty will be imprisonment from one to 10 years and a fine from 20,000 to 200,000 baht.
- Section 26 of the Child Protection Act: committing physical or mental abuses against children. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to three months, a fine of up to 30,000 baht, or both.
