Accused teen set to fly home

PHUKET CITY: After spending more than five months in a Phuket jail, the German teenager arrested along with 43-year-old Briton Dax Young on child sex abuse charges in March is set to fly home next month.

The 18-year-old, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty at the Phuket juvenile court today and was handed a four-year suspended sentence and fined 17,000 baht.

He plans to fly home to Germany on August 18 and start a new life in Cologne.

The judgment brings to an end a saga that first came to public attention in March this year, when the youth was arrested together with Dax Young.

The pair were accused of sexually abusing boys as young as 9 years old.

Those who know the young man, including German diplomats involved in the case, believe he was a victim of Dax Young’s ascendancy, rather than a perpetrator.

The teenager was a minor when arrested, and claims he was forced to have sex with the boys by Mr Young, who threatened to make problems for the teenager’s family.

The judge seemed to recognize this in his judgment, giving the teen a suspended sentence which would permit him to return to Germany.

In tears after hearing the verdict, the teenager said, “I’m so relieved. I’m getting a new life now”.

He thanked German Honorary Consul Dirk Naumann and German Ambassador Hanns Schumacher for their help.

For our previous report on the case, click here.

For a full report on the case, see the August 8 edition of the Phuket Gazette.

— Daniel Waites