American fugitive held in Phuket
PHUKET (Gazette, Nation): An alleged pedophile wanted in the United States was arrested in Phuket yesterday morning after laying low in Thailand for five years.
In cooperation with Interpol, United States Homeland Security and other agencies, Thai police tracked down and apprehended fugitive Charles Todd Stokes, 45, in a hotel room in Cherng Talay, Phuket Tourist Police Inspector Pol Maj Bundit Khaosutham said today.
After his arrest, Stokes refused to speak to police, saying he would talk only with officials from the US embassy.
Stokes, who used to work as a teacher in Florida, had been charged with molesting children before he escaped to Thailand five years ago. According to police he later opened an English-language school in Bangkok’s Phra Khanong district.
The arrest followed a raid by officers on an apartment stokes maintained in Pattaya. There they allegedly found around 100 photographs of boys aged nine to 11, both in school uniform and naked.
