Thai high school teacher accused of sexually assaulting 13 year old girl
A high school teacher allegedly sexually assaulted a 13 year old girl in the art classroom of a school in the northern province of Phitsanulok over several months.
The parents of the 13 year old victim filed a complaint against the male teacher at Mueang Phitsanulok Police Station and later shared details of the case with DailyNews yesterday. They wanted to put pressure on the Ministry of Education to take swift action.
The parents explained that the sexual assault had been ongoing from the beginning of July until June of last year. The teacher initially touched the girl’s breasts and genitalia after school finished at about 4.30pm. He continued to touch her inappropriately until June, when he raped her.
The girl eventually told her parents, leading to legal action and the teacher was summoned for questioning in November last year and denied all allegations. The teacher initially faced charges including:
- Section 319 of the Criminal Law: abducting a minor under the age of 15 from her parents or guardians. The penalty for this offence is imprisonment for two to 10 years and a fine ranging from 40,000 to 200,000 baht.
- 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.
The teacher is currently in police custody, awaiting the next court hearing. The parents were worried that the case would be dropped, as had previous complaints against this teacher, so they shared the case with the media.
The parents wanted officials from the Education Ministry to intervene, as they did not trust the school’s executive board or the provincial education officials.
According to the parents, their daughter was not the first victim of sexual assault at this school. Eight other schoolgirls had previously filed complaints against another teacher at the school for similar incidents. Unfortunately, these cases made no progress.
The Phitsanulok Provincial Education director and the secretary-general of the Private Education Commission Office assured DailyNews that they would handle the case fairly and ensure justice for all parties. The officials also promised to visit the school soon to investigate the matter themselves.
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