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| Thais hold Britons over sex claim | Thais hold Britons over sex claim |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Thai police have arrested two British men, an American and a German in the beach town of Pattaya on suspicion of child sex abuse. | Thai police have arrested two British men, an American and a German in the beach town of Pattaya on suspicion of child sex abuse. |
| Police allege the suspects had hundreds of photos and videos of abused boys at their homes, an hour from Bangkok. | Police allege the suspects had hundreds of photos and videos of abused boys at their homes, an hour from Bangkok. |
| The arrests came as a result of a joint operation between Thai police and the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). | The arrests came as a result of a joint operation between Thai police and the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). |
| If found guilty, the men - aged 45 to 66 - could face up to 20 years in jail. | If found guilty, the men - aged 45 to 66 - could face up to 20 years in jail. |
| Thai police said CEOP - under the auspices of an operation called Naga - had provided them a list of about 50 suspected paedophiles who might be hiding in Thailand. | Thai police said CEOP - under the auspices of an operation called Naga - had provided them a list of about 50 suspected paedophiles who might be hiding in Thailand. |
| The police added it took them three weeks to arrest the four, who have now been taken from Pattaya to Bangkok's police headquarters. | The police added it took them three weeks to arrest the four, who have now been taken from Pattaya to Bangkok's police headquarters. |
| The foreigners, all long-term expatriates in Thailand, were named by police as Malcolm Henry Payne, 59, and Robert Alexander Horsman, 45, both from Britain; Robert Roy Lond, 62, from the United States; and 66-year-old Fritz Deiter Blattner, from Germany. | |
| The four men will face charges of sexual abuse, illegal detention for a sexual purpose, and physical and mental torture of underage boys. | |
| A 30-year-old Thai national was also arrested for soliciting the boys on behalf of the men. | |
| "We are appealing to the victims of these paedophiles to come out, so we can press more charges against them," said chief investigator Police Colonel Suvichpol Imjairat in Bangkok. | "We are appealing to the victims of these paedophiles to come out, so we can press more charges against them," said chief investigator Police Colonel Suvichpol Imjairat in Bangkok. |
| CEOP chief executive Jim Gamble said the arrests sent a message to European paedophiles who think they can evade capture by travelling to countries where law enforcement is thought to be weaker. | CEOP chief executive Jim Gamble said the arrests sent a message to European paedophiles who think they can evade capture by travelling to countries where law enforcement is thought to be weaker. |
| He said: "Britons who travel abroad to abuse children in the belief they can evade justice are a UK problem and we have a duty to protect every child, everywhere." | He said: "Britons who travel abroad to abuse children in the belief they can evade justice are a UK problem and we have a duty to protect every child, everywhere." |
| Thailand has become the focus of international concerns over the sexual abuse of children, following a series of paedophile arrests. | |
| Canadian Christopher Paul Neil was tracked down to Thailand in October last year after Interpol reconstructed a series of digitally "swirled" Internet images of a man abusing boys. | |
| The former teacher has since been sentenced to a total of nine years in jail for abusing two brothers. |