Thai Police Nab Dutch Paedophile Suspect

[sriracha john]

Thai police nab Dutch paedophile suspect

Bangkok - Acting on an Interpol tip-off, Thai police arrested a 60-year-old Dutch national at Hua Hin beach resort on child sex abuse charges, authorities said Monday. Williem Genard Knoppien, 60, was arrested Sunday shortly after police filmed a 12-year-old Thai boy entering and leaving his rented home in Hua Hin, 130 kilometres south of Bangkok.

"We had received a warning from Netherlands Interpol that Knoppien had a child abuse record so we were keeping an eye on him," said Police Colonel Banya Pinsuk, of Thailand's Crimes Against Women and Children unit.

"We asked Knoppien's neighbours to tell us if anything suspicious happened," he added.

On Sunday morning a man on a motorcycle brought a 12-year-old Thai boy to Knoppien's Hua Hin home. Police filmed the boy entering the foreigner's house and leaving one hour later.

Banya said the boy had confessed to having sex with Knoppien for 120 baht, while the man who delivered him on the motorcycle received another 200 baht.

Knoppien, a frequent visitor to Thailand, denied having sex with the child.

- DPA

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Willem Gerard Knoppien

From Dutch website:

www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/1110201.html

Edited December 4, 2007 by sriracha john

[sbk]

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[sbk]

Thailand: Dutch Man Arrested On Child Sex Abuse Charges At Thai Beach Resort Town

BANGKOK, THAILAND: A 60-year-old Dutch man suspected of sexually abusing at least three boys has been arrested at a Thai beach resort town, police said Tuesday (4 Dec).

Willem Knoppien was arrested Monday (3 Dec) at his home in Hua Hin, south of the capital, Bangkok, and charged with the rape and illegal detention of a 13-year-old boy, said police Maj. Nawat Kularaton, who said authorities acted on a tip from the Dutch Embassy.

Police believe he abused at least two others, Nawat said.

A Thai man was also arrested and charged with procuring boys for Knoppien, he said.

An embassy official declined to comment, saying he was obliged to protect the privacy of Dutch citizens.

Knoppien was detained pending trial. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Several Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, are popular with pedophiles due to lax law enforcement, corruption in the justice system and poverty that forces children into prostitution.

A number of high-profile suspects have been caught in Thailand, including Christopher Paul Neil of Canada. He was arrested in October after a global Interpol manhunt sparked by some 200 Internet photos showing his suspected abuse of Vietnamese and Cambodian boys.

- Associated Press