4 Foreigners Arrested In Pattaya Paedophile Crackdown

[george]

4 foreigners arrested in Pattaya paedophile crackdown

PATTAYA: -- Police have arrested four foreigners, including two British nationals, one German and a US citizen in a crackdown on sexual abuse of minors in Pattaya beach resort, police said Thursday.

"There are foreign nationals and networks facilitating sexual abuse of minors in Thailand so we needed to crack down on the crime," said police Major-General Chaiwat Kaetworachai, commander of Thailand's Prevention of Crimes Against Women and Children police division.

Chaiwat said the Pattaya clean-up, conducted from November 17 to Thursday, had been assisted by tip-offs from the UK-based Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOPC).

Netted in the crackdown were two British nationals, Malcolm Henry Payne and Robert Alexander Horsman, German national Fritz Dieter Blattner and US national Robert Roy Lond, who all face charges of sexually abusing minors or abduction of minors.

Also arrested was Thai national Saeng Kaetdee on procurement charges. All five were brought to Bangkok Thursday to face charges and court cases.

-- DPA 2008-12-11

[FatherF]

I hope they get very very long sentances.

FF

[neverdie]

GOOD! Now take them out the back soi and shoot them! End of story....Rock Spiders are the pits

[TAWP]

While I don't like that arrested individuals are named, as people sometimes are caught in the middle of crap (retributions/revenge), I hope the police perform a good investigation and the guilty get their punishment without any buy-outs.

Edited December 11, 2008 by TAWP

[george]

Thais hold Britons over sex claim

PATTAYA: -- Thai police have arrested two British men, an American and a German in the beach town of Pattaya on suspicion of child sex abuse.

Police allege the suspects had hundreds of photos and videos of abused boys at their homes, an hour from Bangkok.

The arrests came as a result of a joint operation between Thai police and the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).

If found guilty, the men - aged 45 to 66 - could face up to 20 years in jail.

Thai police said CEOP - under the auspices of an operation called Naga - had provided them a list of about 50 suspected paedophiles who might be hiding in Thailand.

The police added it took them three weeks to arrest the four, who have now been taken from Pattaya to Bangkok's police headquarters.

The foreigners, all long-term expatriates in Thailand, were named by police as Malcolm Henry Payne, 59, and Robert Alexander Horsman, 45, both from Britain; Robert Roy Lond, 62, from the United States; and 66-year-old Fritz Deiter Blattner, from Germany.

The four men will face charges of sexual abuse, illegal detention for a sexual purpose, and physical and mental torture of underage boys.

A 30-year-old Thai national was also arrested for soliciting the boys on behalf of the men.

"We are appealing to the victims of these paedophiles to come out, so we can press more charges against them," said chief investigator Police Colonel Suvichpol Imjairat in Bangkok.

CEOP chief executive Jim Gamble said the arrests sent a message to European paedophiles who think they can evade capture by travelling to countries where law enforcement is thought to be weaker.

He said: "Britons who travel abroad to abuse children in the belief they can evade justice are a UK problem and we have a duty to protect every child, everywhere."

Thailand has become the focus of international concerns over the sexual abuse of children, following a series of paedophile arrests.

Canadian Christopher Paul Neil was tracked down to Thailand in October last year after Interpol reconstructed a series of digitally "swirled" Internet images of a man abusing boys.

The former teacher has since been sentenced to a total of nine years in jail for abusing two brothers.

-- BBC 2008-12-11

[TAWP]

List of 50. Took 3 weeks to find these 4. They have some months of work ahead of them.

[george]

More Thailand News here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thailand-New...ppings-f18.html

New Visa regulations in our Visa Forum:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thai-visas-r...permits-f1.html

Thaivisa launches new hotel booking portal:

http://hotel.thaivisa.com

[sassienie]

Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/...-sex-swoop.html

Two British men arrested as part of a child sex abuse investigation were today paraded before cameras by Thailand police.

Londoners Malcolm Henry Payne, 59, and Robert Alexander Horsman,45, along with German Fritz Dieter Blattner, 66, and American Robert Roy Lond, 59, were held in pre-dawn raids.

Some of the suspects tried to hide their faces during the press conference where police outlined the case against them.

Police also laid out a large amount of sexual paraphernalia which they said had been recovered during the raids.

Officers said they had recovered hundreds of photos and videos of abused young boys.

All four men were picked up in the Thai beach resort of Pattaya. If they are found guilty they could face at least 20 years in jail.

They have been freed on bail to await a court case.

The operation was launched after UK investigators identified an online paedophile network.

Today's arrests were a joint operation between the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and the Royal Thai Police.

Officers said CEOP had provided a list of 50 suspected paedophiles who might be hiding in the South-East Asian nation, long regarded as a haven for child sex abusers.

'We are appealing to the victims of these paedophiles to come out so we can press more charges against them,' chief investigator Police Colonel Suvichpol Imjairat told a news conference.

CEOP chief executive Jim Gamble said the arrests sent a message to European paedophiles who think they can evade capture by travelling to countries where law enforcement is thought to be weaker.

'Britons who travel abroad to abuse children in the belief they can evade justice are a UK problem and we have a duty to protect every child, everywhere,' he said in a statement.

All four suspects were arrested at the Thai beach resort of Pattaya following a joint police operation between Britain and Thailand

CEOP's deputy head of operations, Andy Wells, said: 'Working with the Royal Thai Police we have located and identified a number of individuals who are suspected of serious alleged offences against vulnerable children.

'Non-government organisations have been instrumental in helping to build an intelligence picture of the threat that travelling sex offenders pose to children from in the region.'

Pattaya is a popular beach resort about an hour from Thai capital Bangkok.

The operation began when an online network was identified by CEOP internet investigators in the UK.

Links were established with Thailand, prompting the start of a joint operation with their Thai counterparts.

CEOP boss Mr Gamble said: 'This operation and these arrests demonstrate the value of the relationship between CEOP and the Royal Thai Police, a relationship which continues to develop.'

Thailand made headlines last year when police arrested 'swirly-face' Canadian paedophile Christopher Neil, whose digitally scrambled picture was unravelled from images of abuse found on the internet.

[Jai Dee]

Pedophile suspects, from right, American Robert Roy Lond, British Malcolm Henry Payne, British Robert Alexander Horsman and German Fritz Dieter Battener sit during a police news conference in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. Thai police arrested two Britons, one American and one German at a Thai beach resort town for alleged sexual abuse of young boys, police said.

Source: Associated Press

German pedophile suspect Fritz Dieter Battener is interrogated at the office of the Children Juveniles and Women Division in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. Thai police arrested two Britons, one American and one German at a Thai beach resort town for alleged sexual abuse of young boys, police said.

Source: Associated Press

American pedophile suspect Robert Roy Lond sits while waiting for an interrogation at the office of the Children Juveniles and Women Division in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. Thai police arrested two Britons, one American and one German at a Thai beach resort town for alleged sexual abuse of young boys, police said.

Source: Associated Press

Thanks to sriracha john for providing above additional info for this thread.