German Still In Phuket Juvenile After 3 Months

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German still in Phuket juvenile after 3 months

PHUKET CITY: Despite efforts by the German Embassy, a young man arrested on charges of sexually abusing minors remains in detention at the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center almost three months after his arrest.

The youth, who was just 17 when he was arrested on March 9, recently spent his 18th birthday behind bars.

His arrest, together with that of his alleged co-conspirator Dax Young of Britain, followed an investigation by the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) and Kathu Police.

For previous accounts of the youth’s arrest click here and here .

After he was taken into custody for conspiring with the alleged pedophile to molest young schoolboys in Patong, there has been little progress in the German diplomatic mission’s efforts to have the youth freed.

The German diplomatic mission in Thailand sees the young man as a victim and not a perpetrator.

“There is no update in the case,” said German Honorary Consul for Phuket Dirk Naumann.

Mr Naumann earlier told the Gazette he was confident the youth was not sexually attracted to boys, but was forced by dire financial circumstances to do the Briton’s bidding as a way of helping his family.

The young man’s mother is seriously ill with chronic respiratory disease. She has required expensive hospital treatment on several occasions since the family moved to Thailand around four years ago.

“I visited the boy last week. He is in good spirits and hoping the Thai prosecutor and police will see it the same way as everyone else, that he is a victim and not a perpetrator,” Mr Neumann said.

“The boy has now got his own lawyer. He is no longer represented by the same lawyer as the British Man [Dax Young],” he added.

The Gazette contacted the Bangkok firm representing the youth, whose Swiss legal advisor said he was unable to comment on the case because it is still under investigation.

The lack of media attention to the three-month detention of a minor comes in stark contrast to the case of Australian housewife Annice Smoel , whose arrest and two-day detention in a Patong jail cell made headlines across the globe.

After confessing to the theft and returning to Melbourne, the mother of four thanked the Australian media for helping to expedite her passage through the normally slow Thai criminal justice system.

– Stephen Fein & Dan Waites

[sriracha john]

This story is a continuation of this thread from March 12th:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Police-Arres...io-t249208.html

Police Arrest German And British Nationals For Sexual Abuse Of Young Boys

which contains photos of the 2 accused:

Police arrest German and British nationals for sexual abuse of young boys

Andaman News on NBT TV Phuket reported that Kathu police superintendent Krissak Songmoonark brought in 41-year-old British national Dax J. Young and a 17 year-old German, who cannot be named due to his age, to be presented to the press.

The two were allegedly involved and conspired together to sexually abuse under-aged boys under 13 years old. The older man was arrested at his home in Patong while the young man was detained from his place in Rawai.

They were arrested by officers from the Department of Special Investigation or DSI. The young German has pleaded guilty to police on all charges while the older suspect still denied the charges, even though many items have been seized as evidence of his illegal action.

- ThaiNews / 2009-03-12

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Mr Young (in shackles) is escorted downstairs at Kathu Police Station.

The German youth (face covered) has confessed to the charges while his friend Mr Young (right) continues to deny them.

German youth arrested for sexual abuse of young boys

PATONG, PHUKET: A 17-year-old German national has confessed to charges of sexually molesting young boys following an investigation by the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) and Kathu Police.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested at 11.30 pm in Rawai on Monday.

The German is accused of conspiring to sexually abuse two young boys together with 41-year-old British national Dax J. Young, who was arrested at his house on Soi Laksila, off Phra Barami Rd in Patong, at 6 pm on March 6.

Police, have identified two victims aged 9 and 13, are still investigating to determine whether more boys were abused.

The two accused were presented at a press conference at Kathu Police Station at 4.30 pm yesterday led by Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong and DSI officer Pol Maj Jatuporn Arunleaktawin.

Maj-Gen Apirak said the German youth was renting a house with his mother in Rawai and has lived in Thailand for one year.

Mr Young had befriended the German, who spent a lot of time at the older man’s house near Wat Suwansiriwong School, Maj-Gen Apirak said.

Mr Young set up soccer nets in front of the house and often invited boys from the school to play football with them.

They enticed the children into the house with the promise of sweets and video games, then sexually abused them, police said.

Some boys went once and did not return to the house, while others returned several times. The accused paid some of the boys sums of 200-300 baht after their visits, police allege.

The alarm was raised when teachers at the school noticed that some of the boys in their care were spending time at the house.

In February, the teachers told The Mirror Foundation of their suspicions.

The foundation, a non-profit development organization known for its work with children, informed the DSI.

The DSI coordinated with social workers during its investigation and arranged for psychologists to interview boys who had come into contact with the accused. At least two said they were abused.

A search of Mr Young’s and the German youth’s home yielded as evidence a laptop computer, two digital cameras, a video camera, 128 CDs, three video tapes, two DVDs, a male dildo, name cards, a hard drive, a flash drive, as well as nine Japanese-style nud_e cartoon books. The photographs featured underage boys naked and engaged in sexual acts.

On Monday, Kathu Police Superintendent Grissak Songmoonnark showed the media a dossier of evidence containing graphic images of a Caucasian man alleged to be Mr Young performing anal sex on a boy whose age was estimated at no older than 12.

Mr Young, who was born in Kenya but carries a UK passport, has denied the charges.

The German youth has confessed to the charges, however.

- Phuket Gazette / 2009-03-12

[sriracha john]

In addition to the above March 12th article is a chronology of articles:

Monday, March 9, 2009

British expat denies child molestation charges

PATONG, PHUKET: A British man is being held for alleged sexual assault on four young schoolboys between the ages of nine and 14.

Department of Special Investigations (DSI) officer Pol Maj Jatuporn Arunleaktawin identified the suspect as British national Dax J. Young, a 41-year-old Caucasian arrested by DSI officers and Kathu Police over the weekend in his rented home in Patong.

Collected as evidence at the home were a variety of photographs and videos of young boys, the DSI officer said.

Four young boys questioned by social workers said the Briton had molested them.

Mr Young is accused of approaching the boys near their school with gifts of snacks and computer games, then molesting them in return for money.

He is also accused of indecent exposure near the school grounds.

Mr Young, who has been living in Phuket for five years, denies the charges.

He is now being held at Phuket Provincial Prison and police are investigating further to learn whether he was involved in the production and distribution of child pornography via the Internet.

Another man is also being investigated in Phuket on similar charges, though Maj Jatuporn declined to say if the two cases are directly related.

Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong said more information would be released at a press conference, possibly tomorrow.

- Phuket Gazette

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Friday, March 20, 2009

The house rented by Dax Young (inset), where the alleged sexual abuse of young boys took place.

Family of accused boy speak out on child molestation charges

PATONG, PHUKET: A 17-year-old German boy arrested on March 9 on child molestation charges is himself a victim of abuse, his family and German diplomats claim.

German Ambassador Dr Hanns H Schumacher on March 16 met Phuket Provincial Police Commander Apirak Hongtong to discuss the case, which began with the arrest of British national Dax J Young on child molestation charges earlier this month.

For the original reports click here and here.

"My major message to the police... was that this guy, who is still a minor, cannot be considered as a perpetrator, but rather a victim. That’s the message and I’ve got the impression that they were highly aware of that,” Dr Schumacher said.

The boy, who confessed to conspiring with Mr Young to sexually abuse Thai boys as young as nine years old, allegedly appears in digitally recorded images seized as evidence.

The boy’s mother and sister insist he be released immediately and allowed to give evidence against Mr Young, 41, who denies the charges against him.

The boy was sexually abused by the older man for four years, the family claim.

“This is unbelievable, what they are doing to an abused child. Why is he not sitting with the same children who got abused?” the boy’s sister asked.

The boy is now locked up awaiting trial in the Phuket Juvenile Observation and Protection Center.

His mother, seriously ill from chronic respiratory disease, said the the family fled to Thailand following the breakdown of her relationship with the children’s father.

He is now imprisoned in Germany on an unrelated murder conviction.

The family arrived in Phuket in December 2003 and befriended Mr Young in 2005, they say.

The mother saw Mr Young as a father figure who offered the youth protection and comfort when his real father arrived in Phuket in July 2004 and began harassing them, they claimed.

The boy's mother says she was unaware the boy was being sexually abused until the arrest of Mr Young and then the boy himself a few days later.

The case has exasperated the German ambassador and German Honorary Consul Dirk Neumann, who had been unable to convince the mother to return to Germany to get the health care she needs. Her medical insurance ran out in 2007 and she needs frequent hospitalization.

Even before the boy’s arrest, he resisted Mr Naumann’s efforts to persuade him to return to Germany. He refused to abandon their mother, who cites the effect of the German climate on her condition as among her reasons for not wanting to return.

For an in-depth report, see the hardcopy edition of the Gazette available on newsstands today.

[sbk]

Posts have been deleted and per usual Thai Visa forum policy regarding pedophile threads, this thread is closed. Any further news updates please PM a mod on duty to have posted in thread

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