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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 police in Thailand 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 with a list of about 50 suspected paedophiles who might be in Thailand. | |
The police said the four men had 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 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 under-age boys. | |
A 30-year-old Thai national was also arrested, accused of soliciting the boys on behalf of the men. | |
CEOP chief executive Jim Gamble said the arrests sent a message to European paedophiles who thought they could evade capture by travelling to countries where law enforcement was 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. | 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. | The former teacher has since been sentenced to a total of nine years in jail for abusing two brothers. |