Thai teacher in US accused of sexual relations with 16 year old student

A Thai teacher at a high school in Seattle in the state of Washington was accused of having sex with his 16 year old student. He was arrested at the school on February 17 and released on bail the next day for US$100,000 or 3.5 million baht.

The Seattle Times reported yesterday that a Thai man, 32 year old Pawares “Mr. Mac” Pathompornvivat – a science teacher at Franklin High School in Seattle – was arrested on February 17 on two counts: sexual misconduct with a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

Mr. Mac was accused of engaging in sexual activity with the high schooler at the start of this month, both in his car and at the girl’s home. Moreover, the police officers also found over 3,000 messages that Mr. Mac sent to the student that were mostly sexually explicit.

The student submitted messages between her and Mr. Mac to the police as evidence. She said that they exchanged phone numbers around the end of January after she gave Mac a birthday present.

The girl explained that she had been in a sexual relationship with Mr. Mac since February 2 and decided to report it to teachers at the school.

When the student texted Mr. Mac to tell him the school was aware of their relationship, he called her to “get our stories straight.” However, she said she would tell the truth.

After the student informed the school, Franklin High School Principal Joseph Williams filed a police complaint against Mr. Mac on February 17.

Police arrested Mr. Mac at the school that same day. He requested to be released on bail the next day and was granted bail for US$100,000.

Principal Williams informed students’ parents and guardians via email that one teacher had been put on leave and banned from entering any Seattle Public Schools buildings, attending school events, or contacting students, their families, and staff due to alleged inappropriate acts with a student.

The principal did not disclose the name of the teacher in the email but urged anyone who had experienced misconduct to report it to the school or police officers.

The Senior Deputy Prosecutor at King Country Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Emily Petersen, added that the investigation into the case is ongoing. She said…

“The defendant told the victim that he had previously had a sexual relationship with another student… Whether there are other victims of the defendant remains under investigation.”

Several similar cases involving teachers and students have been reported in Thailand in recent years. In one case from January of this year, a teacher from a school in the Isaan province of Nakhon Ratchasima was arrested after accidentally sending videos of himself having sex with female students to a school group chat.

Around the same time, a well-known Thai dance teacher, Chutidate Thongyoo, was also arrested on an accusation of sexual assault made by one of his students.

In another case last year, a primary school teacher in the central province of Samut Prakarn was arrested for having sex with a female student and selling ‘schoolgirl porn’ on Thai social media.