Police Arrest Four Foreign Paedophile Suspects In Pattaya

[george]

Police arrest four foreign paedophile suspects in Pattaya

PATTAYA: -- Thai police arrested four suspected paedophiles from Britain, Finland and the US over the weekend at Pattaya beach resort, initially charging them with abduction of minors, police said Monday.

Acting on complaints from the Child Protection Centre of Pattaya, police arrested British nationals Maurice John Praill and Stephen James Ellison and US national Glenn Richard Allen on Sunday in their rented flats in Pattaya, a beach resort notorious for its nightlife and sex industry situated 100 kilometres south-east of Bangkok.

A fourth suspect from Finland was arrested on the same day but his name was not immediately available form the Crimes Against Children and Women Suppression Division, which carried out the arrests.

"We made these arrests by coordinating with the embassies of the UK, US and Finland which have provided records on child abusers from their countries," said Police Major General Kamronwit Tupkrajang, commander of the special police division.

All four suspects were initially charged with abduction of minors but may face further charges as the investigation into their activities in Pattaya unfolds, Kamronwit said.

Child pornography and video equipment for making porn were reportedly found in the four men's separate apartments.

--DPA 2007-03-19

[george]

Thailand charges Britons, American and Finn with pedophilia

PATTAYA: -- Two Britons, an American and a Finnish man were arrested in Thailand's eastern resort town of Pattaya on Monday and charged with sexually abusing under-aged girls, police said.

Glenn Richard Allen from the United States, a Finnish man identified only by his first name Hero, and two Britons -- Maurice John Praill and Stephen James Ellison -- were charged with molesting children aged under 15, police said.

"We have known for some time about an international gang of human traffickers and pedophiles in Pattaya," said Major General Kamronwit Thoopkrajang of the women and children's protection division.

"We arrested the four after we got enough evidence that they were involved in the gang and had earlier committed such crimes in their homelands."

Kamronwit said Thai police had been working with counterparts from Britain, the United States and Finland to track down the suspects.

The men were arrested at four different locations in Pattaya, he said, and police also seized evidence including video and film cameras and electronic child pornography images.

If convicted, the four face up to 20 years each in prison.

Pattaya has recently been trying to shed its sleazy image and crack down on child sex tourism, but child protection organisations have warned that attempts to clean up the city may just push the trade behind closed doors.

-- AFP 2007-03-19

[george]

Update:

Four foreigners charged as paedophiles arrested in Pattaya

PATTAYA: -- Four male foreigners have been arrested on sexual molestation charges involving under-aged girls in Pattaya, police said.

Charged were a Briton Stephen James Ellison, another British national, one Amercian and one Finn, who allegedly sexually molested a group of Thai girls, most in their teens, at an apartment house in the tourist city. One of the victims was 11-and-one-half-years-old.

Seized in their apartment were a video camera and a large number of pornographic CDs. Four Thai women had allegedly purveyed the girls to the foreigners, who were charged with molesting women under the age of 15.

All the suspects had been earlier sentenced on sexual harassment charges in their respective countries, the police said.

--TNA 2007-03-19

[Jai Dee]

Pair face Thai child sex charges

Two Britons have been charged with sex offences against minors in Thailand.

Stephen James Ellison, 54, was charged with raping a girl under the age of 15, Thai police told Reuters.

Maurice John Praill, 76, was charged with attempting to rape a girl, aged under 15. Both men also face charges of sexual molestation against minors.

The pair, said to be from London, were arrested with a US citizen and a Finnish national in the southern beach resort of Pattaya.

Col Jaruwat Waisaya said the Britons had pornographic photos and recorded material of their assaults on their victims.

Glenn Richard Allen, 60, from Seattle, and Ilkka Ylikolola, 63, from Finland, were charged with sexual molestation.

Source: BBC News - 20 March 2007

[Jai Dee]

The four foreign pedophile suspects arrested in Pattaya

ThaiRath newspaper

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Briton Maurice John Praill, 76, is escorted into the Bangkok police headquarters March 19, 2007.

REUTERS

Briton Stephen James Ellison, 54, is escorted into the Bangkok police headquarters March 19, 2007.

REUTERS

Finn Ilkka Ylikolola, 63, is escorted into the police headquarters in Bangkok March 19, 2007.

REUTERS

American Glenn Richard Allen, 60, is escorted into the police headquarters in Bangkok March 19, 2007.

REUTERS

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Additional background information on Mr. Praill of the UK from the April 7th, 2000 edition of the Pattaya Mail:

Elderly Brit arrested for sexually abusing underage girls

Second offense in under 3 years

70-year-old John Maurice Praill from Great Britain was arrested on March 31st for sexually abusing two girls, aged 13 and 14.

The girls told police that Praill had persuaded them to go to his home on Soi Ko Phai on March 12th. After arriving at his address, the girls said Praill forced them to have sex with him and refused to allow them the leave.

70-year-old John Maurice Praill from Great Britain makes his second appearance in Pattaya Mail, this time for molesting two young girls.

A police search of Praill’s house turned up three tubes of KY jelly, two viagra pills, four soiled cloths and one face cloth with lipstick stains.

Tourist police transferred Praill to the officer on duty at the Pattaya Police Station’s Women and Children’s Rights Office for further investigation and disposition.

This was the second time Praill was arrested for child molesting. In December 1997, Praill appeared in Pattaya Mail after being charged with molesting a young boy, a charge which Praill denied. At that time, he was fined and released.

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From the "News in Brief" section, dated 29/12/2001, of The Telegraph (UK)

Paedophile Briton jailed

A BRITON who bought a child bride aged 15 for £1,000 and raped younger girls, was sentenced to 14 years' jail by a Thai court yesterday.

Maurice John Praill, 71, was freed on £10,000 bail pending appeal.

Edited March 22, 2007 by Jai Dee
Thanks to SRJ for providing addtional information