Thailand Charges 90 Year-Old Australian With Sexually Assaulting Four Sisters

[webfact]

Thailand charges 90 years-old Australian with sexually assaulting four sisters

BANGKOK (AFP) - A 90-year-old Australian man has been charged with illegally detaining and raping four young sisters at his home in northern Thailand, police said Wednesday.

German-born Joseph Kraus Karl was arrested at his house in Chiang Mai province on Tuesday after police received a complaint from the children's father.

The Thai girls, aged seven, 11, 12 and 14, were allegedly abused repeatedly after being invited to visit Karl's property in 2008.

"Initially he denied all charges and will only testify in the court," said police Colonel Kritapol Yeesakorn.

Karl, who faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, was born in Berlin.

He later obtained Australian citizenship but police said he has lived in Thailand for "many years" on a retiree visa.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-09-30

[webfact]

Police arrest 90-year-old Australian paedophile suspect

BANGKOK: -- Thai police have arrested a 90-year-old Australian man on charges of raping and molesting four underaged girls in the northern city of Chiang Mai, police said Wednesday.

The Australian, identified by Chiang Mai police Lieutenant Colonel Prawit Choosri as Joseph Kraus Karl, was arrested on Tuesday. He has denied the charges, police said.

Parents of the four allegedly abused girls, aged from 7 to 14, accused Karl of using sweets and money to lure the minors to his home where they claimed he sexually abused them on several occasions between July 2008 and June this year.

Pornographic photos and videos were found in Karl's home in Chiang Mai.

"Despite his age he still seems to have the desire, although we don't know whether he could act on it," Prawit said. "But under Thai law any form of penetration is considered rape."

-- The Nation 2010-06-30

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[onnut]

90? I reckon he has been fitted up!

[marc11864]

Sexual assault doesn't necessarily mean forced rape.

Why didnt the four girls push him over and break his hip, then escape?

[sunny747]

this is absurd. i think this is fabricated story.

is it even possible to assault somebody physically at his age? does he even has the desire?

[lannarebirth]

90? I reckon he has been fitted up!

My wife shouted for me to come look at this on TV last night. I guess there is a lot of other evidence including photos. The man looked positively decrepit. Poor girls and allthe likely others too. A wicked person can do a lot of damage in 90 years.

[MikeyIdea]

IMO, I have no problem with charging an old man with rape, if there is evidence pointing in that direction. The man will get a fair chance to defend himself in court. If he is found guilty, then he should get the standard sentence that such a crime normally warrant regardless of if it means that he most likely will die in jail while sitting out his sentence. If he is unable to stand trial due to mental state, then his legal representative can persue that path and it will be investigated in accordance with Thai law

I have a similar true story for you - My mother was in charge of a home for retired people where a 90 year old ex sailor raped another retiree. It happened numerous times before it came to light. Lawyers employeed by the administration of the city gave their opinion and my mother confronted the 90 year old rapist privately with a very simple message: If you ever touch that woman again, then I will make sure that this goes to court and the result will be that you will not be let out again before you are 100. The man never touched another woman and it didn't go to court

[007]

A 90-year-old "abuses" four lively Thai kids/teenagers, and the father of the daughter files a complaint after 2 years(!) Hmm.., I reckon there is more to the story.

Did the father ask for a handsome pay-out?

Edited June 30, 2010 by 007

[MikeyIdea]

this is absurd. i think this is fabricated story.

is it even possible to assault somebody physically at his age? does he even has the desire?

Oh yes, absolutely. The man I talked about in my above post was very strong, as was his sexual apetite

Edited June 30, 2010 by MikeyIdea

[animatic]

90? I reckon he has been fitted up!

88 years old and molesting multiple girls... beggars belief. 2 years later too

Most guys in this range have trouble standing let alone getting hard.

I also suspect the father is getting back at the old guy for something.

Lost face, lost money, did a bad repair job and got lectured, wants his land, (insert 'greedy need' here)...

[ihunnieibee]

Who lets their children go to an older mans house without their supervision??

I don't justify any horrible crime like this, but I feel like sometimes people need to be more responsible when it comes to their children with where they are and what they're doing..

[WaatWang]

... were allegedly abused repeatedly after being invited to visit Karl's property in 2008.

Anyone find it odd that the arrest is coming 2 years after this (allegedly) happened - ?

[CrossBones]

Its only a matter of time before they seriously start clamping down on expats.

Seriously, with all this bad press and so many bad apples amongst us we should start policing ourselves and doing something positive so Thais can see we aren't all arsonists and pedophiles.... I am amazed they are so tolerant actually.

[MikeyIdea]

... were allegedly abused repeatedly after being invited to visit Karl's property in 2008.

Anyone find it odd that the arrest is coming 2 years after this (allegedly) happened - ?

No, not at all. It is actually normal that child abuse does not come out until much later

[Arkady]

Three presumably fit young girls pinned down and sexually assaulted by a 90 year old man. Sounds mighty suspicious. I wonder what the arrangement was for their visit to his property and whether the parents were involved.

[Prajak]

90 ? And still...? Could be a setup or maybe it happened ? Did he pay the parents ? Did they know ? Did they allow ?

It's up to the judge now. In jail ? Not likely. Take his money to compensate the children ? Than send him back to Down Under ?

Why does this only happen in Thailand; or does this happen more than we know...?

[somchai69]

A 90-year-old "abuses" four lively Thai kids/teenagers, and the father of the daughter files a complaint after 2 years(!) Hmm.., I reckon there is more to the story.

Did the father ask for a handsome pay-out?

My thoughts too..........

All very dubious.

[gotlost]

I smell a big fat rat.

[theoldgit]

Like others I don't know the full story regarding these alleged assaults but maybe the girls were so traumatised by events they were not able to come forward until now.

Whatever the truth is, let's hope the girls are not scarred by what apparently has happened to them.

[Just1Voice]

I think there's a lot more to this story than is being initially reported. While it may be true, I agree with the sentiments of those who wonder why this went for two years before being reported, and possible "motives" of the father of these girls. Another question I have is, being a foreigner, and the girls all being young, minor Thai, will he REALLY get a fair trial here, or will the judge be thinking "guilty" before the case is even presented? Everyone here knows the Golden Rule of Thailand - "A Thai is never wrong, and never to blame, and it's always the fault of the farang".

But we can always hope for the best. If it is true, then he deserves whatever the court slaps him with. If not, then charges need to be filed against the father for filing a false report. Just have to wait and see.

[lensta]

90? I reckon he has been fitted up!

88 years old and molesting multiple girls... beggars belief. 2 years later too

Most guys in this range have trouble standing let alone getting hard.

I also suspect the father is getting back at the old guy for something.

Lost face, lost money, did a bad repair job and got lectured, wants his land, (insert 'greedy need' here)...

It's the 2 year wait to report the crime that bothers me. I also think the father is trying for some money.

[Arkady]

IMO, I have no problem with charging an old man with rape, if there is evidence pointing in that direction. The man will get a fair chance to defend himself in court. If he is found guilty, then he should get the standard sentence that such a crime normally warrant regardless of if it means that he most likely will die in jail while sitting out his sentence. If he is unable to stand trial due to mental state, then his legal representative can persue that path and it will be investigated in accordance with Thai law

You seem to have a lot of faith in the Thai justice system. If he dies in jail it is more likely to be on remand awaiting trial or during a lengthy trial where the case is only heard no more than once a month. Foreigners rarely get bail as they are deemed a flight risk. But this is a case for Andrew Drummond. I will reserve judgment until I hear from the famous sleuth.

As an aside, I wouldn't be surprised, if the case is used to justify a crackdown on retirement visas, like the case of the idiotic American teacher who pretended to have murdered the little girl in Colorado for attention which led to the crackdown on foreign teachers, despite the later evidence that he wasn't even in Colorado at the time.

[david555]

<BR><FONT size=5><B>Thailand charges 90 years-old Australian with sexually assaulting four sisters</B></FONT><BR><BR>BANGKOK (AFP) - A 90-year-old Australian man has been charged with illegally detaining and raping four young sisters at his home in northern Thailand, police said Wednesday.<BR><BR>German-born Joseph Kraus Karl was arrested at his house in Chiang Mai province on Tuesday after police received a complaint from the children's father.<BR><BR>The Thai girls, aged seven, 11, 12 and 14, were allegedly abused repeatedly after being invited to visit Karl's property in 2008.<BR><BR>"Initially he denied all charges and will only testify in the court," said police Colonel Kritapol Yeesakorn.<BR><BR>Karl, who faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted, was born in Berlin.<BR><BR>He later obtained Australian citizenship but police said he has lived in Thailand for "many years" on a retiree visa.<BR><BR>

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-09-30 <BR>

<BR><BR>Yep...!!  Fault finnaly from Viagra & "family" <IMG class=bbc_emoticon alt= src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif"><BR><BR><BR>

[sedeflonga]

A 90-year-old "abuses" four lively Thai kids/teenagers, and the father of the daughter files a complaint after 2 years(!) Hmm.., I reckon there is more to the story.

Did the father ask for a handsome pay-out?

Ha, was just thinking the same...

[Sjptain]

Tend to agree with Crossbones - It's hard enough as it is living here with all the regulations, last thing we want is somebody like this and others like him creating problems for regular expats.

ok it is still aledged and nothing proven, but usually there's no smoke without fire.

[LikeHeat]

Are some of you trying to say that parents know absolutely every movement their children take? That is a big stretch and is simply no realistic. Those children could very well have been lured with gifts or even a piece of fruit if they were poor. It is amazing what I have learned from my children, of things they did that I would NEVER have allowed. Most of you are probably also forgetting your own childhood where I bet you did lots of things your parents were unaware of.

Not defending the guy. If he had any sexual contact with those kids, then slap him silly, but you cannot say the parents were in on it with no information to back that up.

[dobadoy]

I'm 42 and in good health, but I know from having two rambunctious toddlers, that it would be nigh on impossible to physically restrain four teenagers - at the age of 90 absolutely not, unless he had help, regardless of his virility.

That suggests that the girls were psychologicall intimidated in some way - as likely as not by the person(s) who took them there for whatever reason? - to not resist or fight or deny. If so, it's more than likely that this has only come to light because those persons are not satisfied with whatever they were getting out of it. I hope if there is any truth to this case that it is not only the 90yr old that is brought to prosecution, but anyone else involved in 'procuring' or 'supplying' children to him.

[scorecard]

I Live with my adult Thai son and his Thai wife and they have a 5 year old daughter, my grandddaughter.

My son and his wife trust nobody, they say that young children being molested is actually very common (Thai and farang molesters). They trust nobody, they watch their daughter like hawkes.

In our case there is a very sad background to this, the young daughter of an extended relative was stolen about 5 years ago and she has never been found.

Please be serious about this.

[AsiaCheese]

Its only a matter of time before they seriously start clamping down on expats.

Seriously, with all this bad press and so many bad apples amongst us we should start policing ourselves and doing something positive so Thais can see we aren't all arsonists and pedophiles.... I am amazed they are so tolerant actually.

You REALLY wouldn't want that... Get a group of people to "police each other" and you have North Korea, Nazi- or Easter Germany, a 1984 state (etc. pp.) in seconds flat... Human beans are strange creatures; with an institutionalized rumour mill, you'd have accusations flying for no reason, or for reasons such as "that guy has a bigger car than I, must be a badie". Welcome to "Big Brother" in real life...

[indyuk]

I doubt this story. Sounds like a Thai Lady got fed-up with waiting for his money.

90 year old man, four girls that can't run or scream, pleaseeeeeeeee!