American Arrested On Charge Of Child Molest

An American arrested on charge of child molest

BANGKOK: -- A suspected American child molester was arrested in Phuket on Friday morning after laying low in Thailand for five years.

After cooperating with Interpol, United States Homeland Security and other agencies, tourist police apprehended fugitive Charles Todd Stokes, 45, at a hotel room, where he was found with a Thai boy, Colonel Panya Mamen told a press conference yesterday.

The suspect refused to speak to police, saying he would only talk to officials from the American embassy.

Stokes, who used to work as a teacher in Florida, had been charged with molesting children before he escaped to Thailand five years ago and later opened an Englishlanguage school in Bangkok's Phra Khanong district, according to Panya.

Police had previously raided his apartment in Pattaya and found around 100 photographs of boys aged nine to 11, both in school uniฌform and nud_e, Panya said.

-- The Nation 2006-07-29