American Fugitive Nabbed In Chon Buri

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US FUGITIVE

American fugitive nabbed in Chon Buri

By The Nation

Chon Buri police have arrested an American fugitive who is wanted in the United States on charges of sexual abuse and rape of boys under the age of 12.

Police identified the American as Dennis Gale Catron, 60, who jumped US$500,000bail on two arrest warrants issued by an Illinois Court. If found guilty, he could face jail terms of up to 36 years.

He escaped from the US to Thailand and lived in a condominium in Nonthaburi's Pakkret district.

The arrest was conducted as a result of collaboration between the Thai police and the US embassy in Thailand, which asked for the cooperation of the Thai immigration police in locating Catron.

Police said the fugitive, a former director of a US school, fled to Thailand several months ago before taking refuge in Pattaya and Bangkok.

He was hired as special lecturer at some universities and private schools.

Police said that he confessed that he was issued with arrest warrants in the US and entered Thailand on a tourist visa.

-- The Nation 2011-06-29

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American Teacher wanted in USA on child sexual abuse charges, arrested by Pattaya Immigration

Chonburi Immigration based in Jomtien has announced the arrest of an American Teacher wanted in USA for sexual offences involving children under the age of 12. Police Colonel Choosak, announced the arrest of Mr. Dennis Gale Catron aged 60 on Wednesday Afternoon and stated he is wanted by a Court in Illinois after being convicted of two counts of sexual assault of a minor and sentenced “in absentia” to 36 years in Prison. It is believed that during the court proceedings, the school teacher had paid 500,000 US Dollars Bail and then fled to Thailand where he has worked in a number of Universities and other education facilities over the years. Police confirmed there were no reported incidents relating to Mr. Catron here in Thailand.

Full story and pictures HERE

-- Pattaya One 2011-06-29

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[supaprik]

" he is wanted by a Court in Illinois after being convicted of two counts of sexual assault of a minor and sentenced in absentia to 36 years in Prison."

seems to me HE ALREADY HAS BEEN....

[tragickingdom]

Never understood why these chaps are living in a country that is friendly to the US. They probably feel that they simply go on abusing children here. On the other hand who lets a child rapist out on bail?

[mightyharriss]

Do these Thai schools not do background checks... who knows what sick twisted Paedo's are teaching our children in the various schools in Thailand You can be sure he is not the only one..... DISGRACEFUL.

Edited June 29, 2011 by metisdead
Inflammatory comments removed.

[PingManDan]

Do these Thai schools not do background checks... who knows what sick twisted Paedo's are teaching our children in the various schools in Thailand You can be sure he is not the only one..... DISGRACEFUL.

I agree but not till some of the parents have a little fun with him first

[phuketrichard]

He was hired as special lecturer at some universities and private schools.

Nice background check!!!

[Loaded]

There's a photo of the information page of his passport if you follow the Pataya One link. His passport was issued 31 March 2011. I would imagine this date is later than his indictment, when he received bail, or even conviction date. This seems strange.

I Googled his full name and combinations and apart from the report of his arrest in Thailand, there's nothing about his conviction in the States. I would have thought a conviction as serious as this would have been publicized somewhere on the Internet.

Edited June 29, 2011 by Loaded

[AnNieChAa]

He think he fled to Thailand. Will survive.Thai police can but not expressed. haha

Edited June 29, 2011 by soundman
Changed to normal font and colour for readability.

[Junglejumbo]

Often child offences are automatically labelled "rape" even if no intercourse occured.

[Arkady]

The fact that he has apparently being employed by schools in Thailand that were too lazy to check background and references will almost certainly lead to another crack down on foreign teachers in the way that the moronic John Mark Karr's bogus confession to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey did a few years back. Perhaps the Education Ministry will now insist that all English teachers need masters degrees or PhDs - to teach Thai students who can't string together a simple sentence in English even after 16 years of study. Better still, only accept teachers over 60 years old, so the students have a chance to run away from them. LOL.

[KCPhuket]

Right, he was tried and convicted even though he was absent. He got bail before his trial. Got it?

[ginjag]

Do these Thai schools not do background checks... who knows what sick twisted Paedo's are teaching our children in the various schools in Thailand You can be sure he is not the only one..... F'ING DISGRACEFUL. Child molesters should be hung drawn and quartered no exceptions

I agree but not till some of the parents have a little fun with him first

I know what you mean but as a parent the last thing I would want to do is have sex with this man. I would make him hire a tuk tuk---take him to a jet ski hirer--- ride a motor bike without a crash hat--do a border run every day--buy a house in Issan for his boyfriend-- then do something about his problem here.

[janderton]

Do these Thai schools not do background checks... who knows what sick twisted Paedo's are teaching our children in the various schools in Thailand You can be sure he is not the only one.....

if not mainly paedo, 90% of thai tachers fit the profile you described above, that's why school managers do not waste time checking foreign teacher's background.... after all they cant' be worse as domestic average

[midas]

There's a photo of the information page of his passport if you follow the Pataya One link. His passport was issued 31 March 2011. I would imagine this date is later than his indictment, when he received bail, or even conviction date. This seems strange.

I Googled his full name and combinations and apart from the report of his arrest in Thailand, there's nothing about his conviction in the States. I would have thought a conviction as serious as this would have been publicized somewhere on the Internet.

That is quite amazing isn't it?

I would have thought that such a security conscious country like USA would have had state-of-the-art technology to alert the passport authorities of any significant infringements on a persons record and background before issuing a new one or a replacement?

[swifty5x5]

Sometimes, these predators are placed in a cell with a violent psychopath whose problems stemmed from childhood sexual abuse.

Sometimes, these predators are violent psychopaths whose problems stem from childhood abuse.

[seriouseats]

The list of predators that harm child is still at 0 for non-fat/not bald/not weird looking/wasnt beaten up all his life in school.

+1 in the fat/bald/weird looking/was beaten up all his life in school though.

[ra1n85]

I hope he lands in an American prison. Child molestors fall to the bottom of the food chain (or shower chain).

[markg]

He was hired as special lecturer at some universities and private schools.

Nice background check!!!

Background checks are not quite as easy as you may think.

Certainly in the UK, a Thai school or university isn't going to have the authority to do any sort of official back ground check.

And then of course you have the problem of 'say' a UK citizen, applying for a job at your school in Thailand, but is wanted in say, Vietnam. Or Mongolia. Or anywhere else that his passport isn't issued from. How you gonna background check that?

As always, there is more to the story than meets the eye. It would be unusual for someone who is a danger to the public to be given bail. Yet this chap seems to have been..........

Just sayin'.

[MILT]

if not mainly paedo, 90% of thai tachers fit the profile you described above, that's why school managers do not waste time checking foreign teacher's background.... after all they cant' be worse as domestic average

Wait a min. your saying that the domestic average of Thai educators are child molesters? based on what information? 90% Thai teachers fit this profile? What are you smoking? Maybe you fit the profile just by posting this absolute nonsense. Please back up your statements with facts when posting so as not to waste others time reading such crap

[Gers1873]

Often child offences are automatically labelled "rape" even if no intercourse occured.

And your point is caller?? In the US intercourse with a minor is statutory rape.

Surely inappropriate behavior towards a minor is worthy of jail time?

[theanimaster]

As someone commented on the site: "Interesting to note his passport was issued/renewed on March 31, 2011."

Perhaps that's how they figured where he was?

[MILT]

There's a photo of the information page of his passport if you follow the Pataya One link. His passport was issued 31 March 2011. I would imagine this date is later than his indictment, when he received bail, or even conviction date. This seems strange.

I Googled his full name and combinations and apart from the report of his arrest in Thailand, there's nothing about his conviction in the States. I would have thought a conviction as serious as this would have been publicized somewhere on the Internet.

That is quite amazing isn't it?

I would have thought that such a security conscious country like USA would have had state-of-the-art technology to alert the passport authorities of any significant infringements on a persons record and background before issuing a new one or a replacement?

Yep me too! Half a million dollars set bail and this guy already knows he is out of country leaving his money behind. All I can think is he has one hell of a lawyer

[midas]

As someone commented on the site: "Interesting to note his passport was issued/renewed on March 31, 2011."

Perhaps that's how they figured where he was?

But aren't they supposed to pounce on someone before issuing a new passport?

I mean by now he could have skipped to Mexico or Costa Rica or somewhere.

It's just lucky for them that he chose to stay where they all seem to stay ...........here in LOS

[rockdoc]

The list of predators that harm child is still at 0 for non-fat/not bald/not weird looking/wasnt beaten up all his life in school.

+1 in the fat/bald/weird looking/was beaten up all his life in school though.

And your point would be?

Resorting to stereo-typing people does not particularly add a great deal to this forum.

Sincerely,

Vertically and Follicly Challenged

[tominbkk]

Do these Thai schools not do background checks... who knows what sick twisted Paedo's are teaching our children in the various schools in Thailand You can be sure he is not the only one..... DISGRACEFUL.

any decent Intl school here in Thailand will require criminal checks from their applicants. If you are shopping around for a school for your kid, be sure to ask about their vetting process when recruiting teachers. You would be surprised to know that even some of the top schools here in Thailand have hired child molesters with standing records in the states.

[rockdoc]

The list of predators that harm child is still at 0 for non-fat/not bald/not weird looking/wasnt beaten up all his life in school.

+1 in the fat/bald/weird looking/was beaten up all his life in school though.

And your point would be?

Resorting to stereo-typing does not particularly add anything useful to this post.

Sincerely,

Vertically and Follicly Challenged.

[BigJohnson]

It is obvious that this pervert had some resources back in the States; he would have had to come up with $50,000 dollars for a bail bond to get out. He would have had no problem getting a passport as long as he did not have any outstanding warrants, or the court did not specifically submit an order that prohibits it. Unfortunately, child molesters in the U.S. are kept separate from the general jail population so they won't be harmed. It is sickening to think that these predators are more protected than their innocent victims. I say "kill 'em all and let god sort it out!"

[ScubaBuddha]

There's a photo of the information page of his passport if you follow the Pataya One link. His passport was issued 31 March 2011. I would imagine this date is later than his indictment, when he received bail, or even conviction date. This seems strange.

I Googled his full name and combinations and apart from the report of his arrest in Thailand, there's nothing about his conviction in the States. I would have thought a conviction as serious as this would have been publicized somewhere on the Internet.

It's strange he's not on the FBI's crimes against children most wanted list either. http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cac Maybe a fake name/passport?

[sirchai]

There's a photo of the information page of his passport if you follow the Pataya One link. His passport was issued 31 March 2011. I would imagine this date is later than his indictment, when he received bail, or even conviction date. This seems strange.

I Googled his full name and combinations and apart from the report of his arrest in Thailand, there's nothing about his conviction in the States. I would have thought a conviction as serious as this would have been publicized somewhere on the Internet.

That is quite amazing isn't it?

I would have thought that such a security conscious country like USA would have had state-of-the-art technology to alert the passport authorities of any significant infringements on a persons record and background before issuing a new one or a replacement?

I'm just wondering what the majority of Thais think of foreigners nowadays. Regardless how weird the authorities had handled his case, to let him leave the States is very hard to understand.

What a shame for all other foreigners that he worked as a teacher in this country, already full of problems. And I really mean it.

When I came to this country 10 years ago, foreigners were really welcome. People in the neighborhood wanted to have contact with me; we still have a very good relationship, because I live a very similar life like they do. But now they don’t want to meet any foreigners anymore, they haven’t met yet.

And I’m talking about some ‘educated Thais.’ I just came back from work and this news made my day.

Drug traffickers, killers, Pedophiles, mixed with human stupidity makes all of us look pretty old now, regardless what we’re doing.

The fact that he applied for a teacher position as a convicted Pedophile is a joke, but a very bad one. I hope he didn't do any damage here. If so, then please let others rape him, because that’s what he actually did to boys being under 12.

I really do understand now why some parents are killing the person who raped their boy, very sad for all being involved. Guess it’s time to use a forum like this, to try to help victims, or let’s better say to try to protect kids more.