THAILAND: Four Western tourists arrested in Thai resort of Pattaya are charged with sexual molestation of children aged under 15

Record ID: 806557

  • Title: THAILAND: Four Western tourists arrested in Thai resort of Pattaya are charged with sexual molestation of children aged under 15
  • Date: 20th March 2007
  • Summary: PORNOGRAPHIC VCDS AND PHOTOS BEING DISPLAYED MEDIA TAKING PICTURES OF ARRESTED WESTERNERS
  • Embargoed: 4th April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA95F6FDLPIX77C6RD0UMNYIDZ
  • Story Text: Two Britons, an American and a Finn arrested in Thailand's resort town of Pattaya have been accused of sexual molestation of children under 15.
    Four Western tourists arrested in Thailand's resort of Pattaya have been charged with sexual molestation of children aged under 15, Thai police said on Monday (March 19).
    All four westerners -- two Britons, an American and a Finn -- were paraded by the police at juvenile police headquarters in Bangkok after the police arrested the men in the eastern beach resort town of Pattaya, notorious for its sex tourism industry.
    Thai police charged one Briton of raping an underage girl and one of attempted rape of a girl under 15, while an American and a Finn were charged with sex offences with underage girls.
    Londoner Stephen James Ellison, 54, was also charged with raping a girl under 15, which could earn him a prison sentence of up to 20 years if he is found guilty.
    Maurice John Praill, 76, also from London, was charged with attempting to rape a girl under 15 in Pattaya, a fishing village used for "rest and recreation" for U.S. servicemen during the Vietnam War.
    American Glenn Richard Allen, 60, from Seattle and Ilkka Ylikolola, 63, from Finland, were charged only with molestation.
    When the police searched the two Londoners' houses in Pattaya, they found pornographic photos and video compact discs (VCDs), police said.
    All four were charged with sexual molestation of children under 15 for which they could receive prison sentences of up to 15 years, police said.
    "We accused (charged) them with sexual molestation of children aged under 15 first," said said Central Investigation Bureau Commander Police Lieutenant-General Montri Jamroon.
    "They (some of the suspects) attempted to rape the girls but they could not, as the girls were too young, like 11 and 14. For more charges, it depends on further investigation, if the VCDs they recorded themselves show something and if the further investigation finds that they distributed the girls' pictures to somewhere else, then we can accuse (charge) them with more charges," said Jamroon.
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