Former Diplomat Cleared Of Thai Child Porn Charges

[george]

Former diplomat cleared of child porn charges

BANGKOK: -- A Thai court has cleared a former Australian diplomat of child pornography charges.

Robert Scoble, 55, was on trial for distributing child pornography for profit on the Internet.

He was arrested in March after the Australian embassy in Bangkok asked Thai police to carry out an investigation into the activities of his Bangkok gay and lesbian travel agency.

A subsequent raid on Scoble's home uncovered pornographic videos depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with young boys.

Under Thai law it is not illegal to possess child pornography, but it is an offence to sell or trade in pornography.

The judge ruled that there was no evidence that Scoble had duplicated the material.

However, he was fined and given a seven month suspended sentence on lesser charges of handing out copies of a gay guide to clients of his travel business.

--abc.net.au

[george]

Ex-diplomat avoids Thai jail over porn

Not to be deported

Robert Scoble arrives at criminal court in Bangkok.

Photo: AP

BANGKOK: -- A Thai court has handed former Australian diplomat Robert Scoble a suspended jail sentence after he was found guilty of distributing pornography for trade.

Scoble, 56, was given a seven month sentence, suspended for two years, for the pornography offence and a second charge of employing an illegal alien. He was also fined $A330.

The court ruled he would not be deported.

Scoble had denied the charge of trading in and distributing pornography, but pleaded guilty to employing an unregistered foreign worker in a travel agency that catered to gay and lesbian travellers.

Scoble was arrested in March along with American John Gross, with whom he ran the travel agency in Bangkok.

They were charged after they were found to have kept a locally-produced magazine, Thai Guys, at the travel agency.

The magazine, which promoted gay tours in Thailand, carried an ad for the agency and was deemed to be available for "distribution" because it was kept at the office.

Gross, who was found guilty of the same two charges, was handed an eight month sentence, also suspended for two years, and fined $A400.

His sentence was slightly harsher as he had pleaded not guilty to both offences.

But the court also ruled Gross could stay in Thailand.

Outside the court today, Scoble said: "I found it a slightly surprising result. I will say I am innocent."

A lawyer acting for the pair said an appeal may be lodged.

"I do believe we will appeal. I believe these magazines are not pornographic, although it (the suspended sentences) is a mercy on the part of the judge," lawyer Ratpratan Tulatorn said.

Scoble and Gross were arrested in March after surveillance was carried out based on information from the Australian Embassy in Bangkok.

The surveillance followed complaints made to Thailand's Tourism Authority.

A long-time resident of Thailand, Scoble served as a diplomat in Thailand and Vietnam in the 1970s and 1980s, but left the foreign service over child pornography allegations.

Over the past decade he has worked as a tour operator in Bangkok.

- AAP 2004-12-24

[tuky]

I don't know what to say bout this. What a turn around for khun Scoble.

[marquess]

I am pleased to see that justice has prevailed and somewhat surprised too.

[tuky]

can someone pass me a magnifying glass? I can't read marquess' post O)

[nogutsnoapplepie]

MARCH 26TH 2004

Ex-diplomat in child porn ring scandal

Published on Mar 26, 2004

Thai police have accused former Australian diplomat Robert Scoble of running a secret child-sex recruitment network by using one of Southeast Asia’s biggest gay tourism agencies as a front, the Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday.

Police told the Herald’s Southeast Asian correspondent, Mark Baker, that they found more than 100 albums containing sexually explicit photographs of boys – some believed to be as young as 10 – when they raided the Bangkok apartment of the former deputy ambassador to Vietnam and Telstra executive.

“They were like catalogues, and we believe he was sending these pictures to people overseas,” said Major Choowong Uthaisang from the Immigration Department.

Major Choowong told the Herald that police also seized computer picture files of a man they believed to be Scoble engaged in sexual acts with several prepubescent boys.

Another immigration officer, Lt-Colonel Pichit Itthipalacahai, said Scoble, 56, and an American business partner, John Charles Goss, were believed to have used their Bangkok travel agency as a front to introduce foreign paedophiles to Thai children.

Scoble and Goss were arrested last Friday after a month-long surveillance that followed information supplied by the Australian embassy in Bangkok and complaints made to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Herald said.

“There is evidence that they were supplying boys to tourists coming to Thailand, and we are looking at further charges,” Colonel Pichit said.

Scoble and Goss were charged on Saturday with distributing pornography and employing an unregistered foreign worker in their travel agency, which is in an office suite in the Tarntawan Place Hotel. The boutique hotel is popular with gay travellers and next to Patpong district. The two men were released on bail after a brief court appearance.

Their passports were impounded and they were ordered not to leave Thailand, according to the newspaper.

The travel agency, co-founded by Scoble in the mid-1990s, sells package tours throughout Southeast Asia to gay travellers, the Herald said.

An affiliated website boasts that the company “pioneered gay and lesbian travel in Southeast Asia”. At the agency yesterday, a middle-aged American man, who refused to give his name, said Scoble would not talk to journalists.

“We are being crucified in the newspapers in Australia. There is some terrible innuendo being published,” he said. “One woman has written some very libellous stuff and we’re going to sue the panties off her.”

During the raid on Scoble’s apartment, in an expensive suburb popular with Thai politicians and film stars, police said they found a huge cache of pornographic material including magazines, personal photographs, videocassettes and computer disks.

Choowong showed the Herald images of a stocky, middle-aged man with receding grey hair – his face digitally masked – having sex with several young boys. The images were found on a personal computer in the apartment.

Colonel Pichit told the Herald that if investigations confirmed Scoble’s identity, he would face further charges of sexually abusing minors.

He said Scoble, who denied being a paedophile, broke down after being told late on Friday that he would be charged with distributing pornography, which carries a maximum three years’ jail.

Scoble, a career diplomat who held posts in Thailand and Vietnam, resigned from the Foreign Affairs Department in 1985 after a scandal involving pictures of young boys sent through diplomatic mail. He said the images were sent as an innocent joke.

Edited December 24, 2004 by nogutsnoapplepie

[Darknight]

can someone pass me a magnifying glass? I can't read marquess' post O)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why??? It's in Italic and in small green letters.

Isn't that the way everybody writes on the planet Gringo ?

[eljeque]

I am pleased to see that justice has prevailed and somewhat surprised too.

[kat]

Yes, I agree, justice must be served. But I do feel queasy about the fact that grown, aging men collect porn depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with children. But, possession of kiddie porn is not illegal in Thailand, and so, justice was served in its limited definition.

[Crushdepth]

I'm just amazed he didn't get tossed out (though at the same time, at least there was some respect for the law for once).

But I do feel queasy about the fact that grown, aging men collect porn depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with children.

Yeah...you've got to wonder why it isn't illegal...

Edited December 24, 2004 by Crushdepth

[tuky]

I'm just amazed he didn't get tossed out (though at the same time, at least there was some respect for the law for once).

But I do feel queasy about the fact that grown, aging men collect porn depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with children.

Yeah...you've got to wonder why it isn't illegal...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

isn't it?

I am shocked

[Trevor]

Scoble, a career diplomat who held posts in Thailand and Vietnam, resigned from the Foreign Affairs Department in 1985 after a scandal involving pictures of young boys sent through diplomatic mail. He said the images were sent as an innocent joke.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Some long-running joke! This guy has more lives than a cat or, more likely paid off the judge. Such a trivial slap on the wrist is risible. One guy in Pattaya was deported without right of return for the simple theft of a beach towel. TiT. Anarchy rules. Don't ya just love it?

[DaveYo]

Deported on a simple theft of Beach Towel??????????? Are you sure?????? It has to be more than that to get deported, cause a towel literally is of no value here in Thailand.

Daveyo

[OpenMind]

Wouldn't real justice here somehow involve whacking off his willy and stuffing it down his throat?

[RDN]

Deported on a simple theft of Beach Towel???????????  Are you sure??????  It has to be more than that to get deported, cause a towel literally is of no value here in Thailand. 

Daveyo

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh yes!

http://www.phuketgazette.com/issuesanswers...ails.asp?id=723

[jltheart]

Wow Sorry little children of Thailand . These two monsters are still in your country. It is a real shame that they are even alive. If a chance comes bite it off.

[PvtDick]

There is no evidence whatsoever that this guy ever abused a child. What do you want to do, burn him at the stake?

[wcr]

Lets not forget the Thai Police were acting on information recieved from Australian Police. The Aussies have made a real stuff up here. He was accused of running a tour company that specialised in child sex tours and distibuting child porn. This was widely covered in the press.

No evidence was found of this, nor was there evidence of distributing child porn through his company. My understanding is the only thing he was found guilty (as far as porn is concerned) of was distributing a free magazine called Thai Guys, which his company advertises in. The judge said it was pornagraphic as it carried advertisments for male massage places and his company advertised in it and gave out free copies to people.

Anybody who has seen Thai Guys will see it is not no more pornographic than the Pattaya Info!

Amazing. How many straight and gay companies are now guilty of distributing pornography in Thailand?

However that being said, justice has been done as far as Robert and Utopia Tours are concerned on the major offences they were charged with.

[Ian Curtis]

Without wishing to make sententious comments; I assume the Judge(s) are in receipt of a large gratuity?

Former diplomat cleared of child porn charges

BANGKOK: -- A Thai court has cleared a former Australian diplomat of child pornography charges.

Robert Scoble, 55, was on trial for distributing child pornography for profit on the Internet.

He was arrested in March after the Australian embassy in Bangkok asked Thai police to carry out an investigation into the activities of his Bangkok gay and lesbian travel agency.

A subsequent raid on Scoble's home uncovered pornographic videos depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with young boys.

Under Thai law it is not illegal to possess child pornography, but it is an offence to sell or trade in pornography.

The judge ruled that there was no evidence that Scoble had duplicated the material.

However, he was fined and given a seven month suspended sentence on lesser charges of handing out copies of a gay guide to clients of his travel business.

--abc.net.au

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[PvtDick]

I would not assume that the judge was in receipt of any gratuity. Contrary to popular opinion, not all judges are on the take. Justice was done, Thai style. There was no evidence of any wrongdoing whatsoever, so he goes scot-free. But to give some face to the police, there was a trumped up conviction with "suspended" jail sentence. Everyone goes home happy.

[astral]

What happens now?

The Ozzies revoked his passport.

I can't see the Thai's letting him stay without a passport, so he will be heading home

to charges there, no doubt.

[george]

Aussie fights deportation

BANGKOK: -- Former Australian diplomat Robert Michael Scoble spent his Christmas in immigration detention in Bangkok attempting to avert deportation to Australia after being convicted for distributing pornography.

Scoble, 56, was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after judge Suthikorn Libnoi ruled he and his business partner, American John Charles Goss, 46, had distributed a gay magazine that "had a feeling of inviting men to come for sex". He was sentenced to another three months' jail, also suspended, on charges of employing someone without a work permit. He was fined a total of 10,000 baht ($330) for the two charges.

The free Thai Guys magazine, which is published in Thailand 10 times a year and distributed in hundreds of gay bars, saunas and restaurants, contains no full nudity, the judge said, but pictures of men with naked torsos suggested the offering of sex services.

Initially, it was thought Scoble, who wore a Christmas teddy-bear tie to court, would be spending the next 30 days at his Bangkok home preparing his appeal, but in a surprise twist, he was detained in immigration custody on Friday afternoon and told he could be deported immediately.

He had gone to the immigration police as part of his weekly sign-in as a condition of his original bail. Scoble's passport was cancelled by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer after his arrest.

His lawyer, Ratprathan Tulatorn, argued that he could not be deported until the court's decision had been appealed.

When Scoble was arrested in March this year, police said they found hundreds of videos and photographs, many containing explicit images of men having sex with pre-pubescent boys, in his home.

But Judge Suthikorn ruled he was not guilty of distributing those images for commercial purposes. It is not illegal in Thailand to possess pornography, either adult or child, for personal use.

However, the judge said that as Scoble and Goss had hundreds of copies of Thai Guys in their office and they admitted they gave them to clients of their gay and lesbian travel business, Utopia Tours, they were "distributing pornography".

Mr Ratprathan said his client would probably appeal against the sentence because it was clear the magazines were not pornographic.

"His judgment believes those pictures are pornographic, but our argument is it is not, otherwise all the people in the country who have these magazines will be arrested, and they are not," he said.

"It is mercy from the judge already that the (sentence) is suspended from imprisonment and I know, deep down inside, the judge knows exactly what is the truth."

Scoble had served as Australia's acting head of mission in Hanoi in the mid-1980s before resigning after being accused of sending child pornography to a colleague in another embassy through a diplomatic bag.

--news.com.au

[andyadam]

I am pleased to see that justice has prevailed and somewhat surprised too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I fail to see how justice was done! OK in Thailand it is not against the law to have kiddie porn, but why would any normal person have kiddie porn?

I think the US now have a policy for citizens who travel to places like Cambodia just to have sex with kids. Fair enough there is no evidence he has had sex with any kids, but there is a bit of history here aswell!

Sorry but the words "smoke" and "fire" spring to mind here.

[Ijustwannateach]

Yes, I agree, justice must be served.  But I do feel queasy about the fact that grown, aging men collect porn depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with children.  But, possession of kiddie porn is not illegal in Thailand, and so, justice was served in its limited definition.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kat, "Thai Guys" magazine is a (very) soft core (briefs and swimsuits) gay magazine locally produced primarily featuring pics of *very* mature moneyboys/gogoboys (usually the older age range of the bunch- certainly 20+) in tasteful poses (no sex). It's also distributed (or was) at every gay bar on Soi 4. There are pictures of "mature men" in bars with these moneyboys. And I've no doubt that some of the porn Mr. Scoble had probably featured "mature men" bonking 18 and 19 year olds- certainly not exactly savory, but also certainly a staple of legal porn worldwide- I have the feeling that the press are playing fast and loose with the rough translation of "dek" meaning boy, but applied to young men as old as 25.

This verdict sounds to me like saving face- if he'd truly been guilty of selling/making porn, he'd be history. They're just trying to smear him. Probably his website had a swimsuit picture or two, and since he was selling *anything* that makes him guilty. I'm glad that the poor man is finished with the current ordeal, but justice would be forcing somebody to resign over harassment.

"Steven"

[kat]

From an article on page 1 of this thread:

"During the raid on Scoble’s apartment, in an expensive suburb popular with Thai politicians and film stars, police said they found a huge cache of pornographic material including magazines, personal photographs, videocassettes and computer disks.

Choowong showed the Herald images of a stocky, middle-aged man with receding grey hair – his face digitally masked – having sex with several young boys. The images were found on a personal computer in the apartment.

Colonel Pichit told the Herald that if investigations confirmed Scoble’s identity, he would face further charges of sexually abusing minors.

He said Scoble, who denied being a paedophile, broke down after being told late on Friday that he would be charged with distributing pornography, which carries a maximum three years’ jail.

Scoble, a career diplomat who held posts in Thailand and Vietnam, resigned from the Foreign Affairs Department in 1985 after a scandal involving pictures of young boys sent through diplomatic mail. He said the images were sent as an innocent joke."

Also from the previous article on this page: "... When Scoble was arrested in March this year, police said they found hundreds of videos and photographs, many containing explicit images of men having sex with pre-pubescent boys, in his home."

I know the difference between regular porn, and kiddie porn, and between young men and pre-pubescent boys. As I said earlier, justice in this instance was done in its limited fashion, but the episode in its entirety reeks.

[PvtDick]

It is obvious that the man appearing in the videos could not be confirmed as Scoble. So, unless you are a proponent of police arresting and courts convicting people of things that aren't actually against the law, then justice has thankfully been served.

This in no way negates the fact that the guy had a stash of kiddie porn -- certainly revolting enough, but not illegal in this country.

[kat]

Yes, I agree, justice must be served.  But I do feel queasy about the fact that grown, aging men collect porn depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with children.  But, possession of kiddie porn is not illegal in Thailand, and so, justice was served in its limited definition.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, which is what I already said.

[Ijustwannateach]

Ok, let's review:

First of all, the Thai police told the press that this guy was selling sex tours with children.

VERDICT: Not guilty, no evidence, no witnesses, no kids abused, nothing.

Secondly, the Thai police accuse the guy of making/selling porn- based on things like THAI GUYS magazine!!!

VERDICT: Not guilty (in a Thai sense- given a suspended sentence to save face for doing nothing- Thai Guys magazine my big behind!)

Now, the Australian press reports, from information given to them by the THAI police, that the guy had dodgy kid porn.

VERDICT: Not an offense, so no court judgment can be passed! The guy can NEVER be exonerated of this unjustified smearing, and good luck to him suing the Thai "Justice" Ministry! Of course, the Australian press can just tell everyone their source was the "upstanding" Thai police, 'cause nobody THERE knows the corruption score! And, because for some reason this issue seems to dull the thoughts of ordinarily skeptical thinkers, even the folks in THAILAND believe it!

What a clever idea for causing trouble for someone you can't convict of a crime!

Of course, if he DID have any dodgy porn, that's disgusting... but I would think that MOST reasoning people would want pretty hard evidence of a higher degree of reliability than the THAI POLICE's WORD on *this case*, of all things. Has the scumminess of the issue clouded minds? After discrediting themselves on two separate occasions over this very case, you're willing to to make the guy a black sheep based on THEIR words *now*? C'mon, people, put on those thinking caps!

"Steven"

[kat]

"Steven":

I'm not sure if your post was directed at me, but I'm going to reiterate one more time; please refer to my first reiteration above.

I don't need a review, or to put on a "thinking cap". According to various independent news sources, this man has been involved in dubious incidents before this one regarding inapproriate photographs of children. There is also the matter of homemade videos and media found in his possession. Perhaps you need a review, or to take off whatever goggles allow you only one point of view.

Again, (more slowly this time): "Yes, I agree, justice must be served. But I do feel queasy about the fact that grown, aging men collect porn depicting mature men engaged in sex acts with children. But, possession of kiddie porn is not illegal in Thailand, and so, justice was served in its limited definition."

However, that is not the same as saying that a person is not guilty. I do not really know, nor am I completely convinced. That is my point of view.

[Ijustwannateach]

Perhaps I'm just more suspicious of the Australian government's motives [petty revenge for a diplomatic embarrassment?] and the Thai government/police/press reliability. I'm with you up to the point where you refer his to current possession and previous allegations as known "facts..." at which point I raise an eyebrow. The results [harassment without conviction] and the previous history of this case [widespread smearing and unfounded accusations] tend [for me, anyway, prone to tunnel vision as I am] to give me a bit of skepticism about what Thai and Australian news sources are reporting. Remember the German who gave HIV to "thousands" of girls, as reported by Thai news?

"Steven"