Tourist Police Seize Over 100,000 Indecent Images From 75 Year Old English Man

[mrbojangles]

As for Diana Estates, still can't believe that. I can usually spot a shady gaff at hundred yards and surely a Thai would have pointed it out to my Mrs (who is Thai). Are you sure we are talking about the same place?

Maybe the place has changed - its 2 years since i set foot in the place!

Hope so. As i said earlier, when we stayed there last month, there was 3 families and everyone seemed normal. No Speedo's in sight but we was at the small pool on the right, don't know about the larger pool or the main condo building.

Edited October 24, 2007 by mrbojangles

[rafval]

OK, so this was indeed much more serious than downloading legal adult porn and saving it on his computer.

there is no legal adult porn in Thailand. if u have a topless pin-up girl as a screensaver on ur Comp, you are a criminal and a threat to the country and will be subject to prosecution and deportation.... those are the REAL problems that Thailand has, isnt it ?

Im pretty sure I have seem images of topless women in temples, and the thai version penthouse gets away with topless images as well

[timekeeper]

i understand that he has now been bailed and that there were no underage pictures of anyone on his computer or found in his room. the boy he went with prior to his arrest was not underage either, he informed the police of his porn colllection as Mawson would not fulfil a money/blackmail demand from the boy.

[TopDogger]

I assume 99% of the computer users here in Thailand do not really care much about deleting files or any private or business data on their computers properly.....

Your might be right, but maybe 99% of users have nothing to hide? And business data should be encrypted anyway so thats irrelevant.

[terryp]

This absolutely stinks of another set up….this guy is well known around Pattaya.

I used to see him daily in soi post office (8 am) with a car full of dogs & a serious looking Thai guy as his driver.

Kids stuff is terrible but a 14/15 year old rent boy (I believe 15 is the legal age for a male in Thailand)…who took the money & then complained…… & most probably went on to do more guys that same day is a load of borrocks

The old guy has been an easy target,…….pity the BIB “aren’t getting to grips with the real peodo action around day & night Hotel with Thais running the show

Brilliant reporting again…from 20,000 up to 100,000 images being reported…before all underage boys ….now all over the age of consent ??????????????

[sriracha john]

Additional information since last post:

Alan Charles Mawson

Pensioner accused of child sex attack in Thailand

A Sussex pensioner has been arrested in Thailand on charges of child abuse and child pornography. Brighton businessman Alan Charles Mawson was arrested in the holiday resort of Pattaya in Thailand.

Mr Mawson owns the Bright N Beautiful Sauna in St Margaret's Place, Brighton, but was born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Last night friends of the 74-year-old spoke of their shock at his arrest. Speaking at Bright N Beautiful, Mr Mawson's business partner, Phillip Oliver, said: "He has been out in Thailand for a couple of months. We go there about three times a year, it's like our second home.

"I had no idea he had been arrested, I only spoke to him two days ago. I don't believe it, all I can think of is that it must be some sort of bogus charge."

Mr Mawson has run the Brighton business for more than 30 years and it is one of the oldest gay saunas in the city.

He also owns a property-leasing firm and has been travelling to Thailand for the past 20 years.

Thai police raided his apartment in the Diana Estate, Pattaya, on Tuesday. They claim to have found more than 20,800 pornographic images of children in the flat. He has also been accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy. Officers said they found more than 100 photograph albums, each containing more than 200 pictures of naked boys and men, 300 pornographic CDs plus six digital cameras.

They said they believe more than ten boys had been abused.

Mawson was arrested days after Thai police received a complaint from a 14-year-old boy that he had been assaulted.

Pattaya is known to attract sex tourists from around the world. It is about 70 miles from the Thai capital Bangkok.

A conviction for an indecent act against a child under 15 in the country carries a potential jail sentence of up to ten years.

Captain Sorakit Thanyasri from Pattaya police said Mawson denied all the charges. He was released on police bail several hours after his arrest.

- The Argus (UK)

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Thailand: Barrow OAP on sex charge

A BARROW man has been formally charged with a sex offence against a 14-year-old boy in Thailand. Alan Charles Mawson also faces a charge relating to possessing thousands of pornographic images of children he allegedly photographed in his Pattaya apartment.

Barry Kenyon, the British embassy’s honorary consul in Pattaya, told the Evening Mail 74-year-old Mawson has been freed from custody while prosecutors prepare charges, which could take three months.

Mr Kenyon said Mawson was “shaken” by the allegations, which he denies, and may not face trial until the new year.

He said: “I can confirm there are two charges. The first charge against him is that he held a lot of (pornographic) material. He has also been charged with a sex offence against a 14-year-old boy. He is out on bail – he is a 74-year-old man and I think the police took that into account."

"The prosecutor has three months to prepare charges to bring to the court so there’s always a waiting time so the trial date will be sometime next year. There’s many months to wait.”

The official also revealed it is alleged Mawson took all of the photos himself and they were not downloaded from the internet.

Mr Kenyon said the consulate’s role in the case is limited once Mawson is out of custody as the British authority in Thailand only monitors citizens in custody.

He said: “It might be he has now got his own lawyer. I did give him names of lawyers. I understand he is denying the charges. He was rather shaken by the whole thing when I saw him.”

The official confirmed “Barrow-in-Furness” is printed as Mawson’s birthplace on his passport.

Although he has lived for 20 years in Thailand, he also runs gay sauna Bright N Beautiful in Brighton, Sussex. Thai police claim to have found more than 20,800 pornographic images of children after raiding his apartment.

- Northwest Evening Mail (UK)

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For Non-Brits like myself, I discovered "OAP" stands for Old Age Pensioner

[tropo]

Thai police raided his apartment in the Diana Estate, Pattaya, on Tuesday. They claim to have found more than 20,800 pornographic images of children in the flat. He has also been accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy. Officers said they found more than 100 photograph albums, each containing more than 200 pictures of naked boys and men, 300 pornographic CDs plus six digital cameras.

It's interesting that it's reported here as a "claim" yet there was a photo showing all this stuff in the Pattaya Mail about 2 weeks ago.

[JohnC]

(I believe 15 is the legal age for a male in Thailand

The age of consent for both male and females is 18. Anyone who goes with a partner that is under age is setting themselves up as a target and the old rule applies check ID cards.

[Hobgoblin]

This is truly a sad story, and if you all would humor me, I would like to set the record straight of what *really* happened to this guy, who is a close friend of a close acquaintance of mine.

First and foremost, he is *not* a pedophile. Gay, yes - pedo, no. He had frequent encounters with guys of legal age (18+), and yes, had a large collection of printed photos of these guys. The circumstances that led to his arrest I'm not entirely privy to, however, he was set-up by the 14 year-old son of a man who knew NOT about the photographs, but the fact this chap was relatively well-off. The complaint was launched, and the police subsequently raided his condo and seized his photo albums as evidence.

To make a long story short, he was exonerated of the charges relating to the 14 year-old boy, and the police issued him a formal letter of exoneration stating that he was set up from the beginning, and has been exonerated of all charges, including the possession of porn.

The sad part of this story is - those bottom-feeding rags Pattaya Mail and Pattaya People, with their obvious lack of commitment to truthful reporting, have tarnished this man's reputation here in Pattaya by hastily publishing lies, and have no doubt created a tsunami of bad press that will wash up in England, and haunt him there... even with the letter from the police. Oddly enough, he is apparently prohibited from showing this letter to the press for reasons that can only be face-saving tactics.

What this teaches us is that *anyone* can be set-up like this if you a) flaunt your wealth, and B ) make enemies here. If you make enemies with someone who is struggling on 10,000 Baht a month, and they know you are sitting on a pile of cash, you're in quite a pickle. These people who initiate these set-ups don't take into account the profoundly negative affect on your life, and just see a pile of money.

The worst thing is the fallout this guy will experience - he's been verbally accosted here, and will no doubt become threatened when he goes back to England - letter or not. People hear "pedophile", they don't want excuses or letters of exoneration... they want blood. Even being accused of it means you are guilty in the court of public opinion.

-H

Edited November 17, 2007 by Hobgoblin

[sbk]

The usual "hang em high" posts have been deleted.

As per usual, these threads degenerate into this kind of thing.

Also please note that despite Hobgoblin's post neither the Pattaya People nor the Pattaya Mail had an article quoted in this thread.

If any poster has updated relevant information please PM a moderator or admin to have it included in the thread.

///CLOSED/// per forum policy

[lopburi3]

Child porn suspect vows Thai return

A man arrested in Thailand on child porn and abuse charges has had the case against him dropped and is now back home.

And we can reveal that Alan Charles Mawson has vowed to return to a country in Southeast Asia . . . but could face a battle with the authorities there.

Mr Mawson, 74, of Barrow, Cumbria, was arrested in October last year after a 14-year-old Thai boy told police the pensioner had abused him in the tourist city of Pattaya.

A sick collection of 10,000 indecent images of children was found at his home, with local police claiming Mr Mawson had taken them himself. But, following a police investigation, no charges were brought.

Philip Oliver, a friend of Mr Mawson who now lives in Brighton, said he is recovering from his ordeal and has not been put off going back to Thailand, which he's visited over the last 20 years.

He said: It's been a very, very bad ordeal but he's definitely going back . . . he loves it there so this hasn't put him off. I expect he'll go out some time this year.

However, a spokesman for the Royal Thai Embassy said, while he couldn't comment on any individual cases, Mr Mawson's name could be on Thai Immigration's "Black List", which could scupper any plans he has for a return.

The spokesman said: "We never know who is on the list ' only immigration has the list ' but if he is on it he simply can't go to Thailand." Mr Mawson always denied all the charges but has declined to comment on the case. Mr Oliver, 54, said: "We think he's been set up. I've known Alan for years and he wouldn't go near pictures like those.

You can buy pictures like those in any newsagents and I think they were put there by someone else. He thinks he was set up by police or by a disgruntled tourist. Someone was trying to get him in trouble.

I'm not sure when, but he'll be back over there this year because it's lovely there . . . you do get some perverts over there but it's mostly Germans and French. I've seen it myself.

- Sunday Sun (UK)

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http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/sundays...-name_page.html