A 74-year-old monk was arrested on Tuesday morning in Kanchanaburi’s Muang district and charged with raping a four-year-old girl on several occasions in 2016.
Phra Ther Kongkwamdee was arrested in front of Paholpolpayuhasena Hospital at 11am after a warrant was issued nearly two years ago – in May 2017 – by Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court on charges of raping a girl under 13 and taking away a minor under 15 from her parents for a lewd act.
Told of the charges facing him, the monk refused to answer any questions and police later took him to be disrobed at a nearby temple before passing him over to the Sangkha Buri district police.
The alleged crimes were committed between November 15 and December 22, 2016 at the Deng Khuthu Monastery in Tambon Nonglu.
Phra Ther was then living at the monastery and the four-year-old girl, who lived nearby, would often go to play while her poor parents were at work.
It is alleged that Phra Ther used the opportunity of having the girl alone to rape her on various occasions before the girl’s father, noticing her mood changes, spoke to her and she told him what had happened.
The father filed a police complaint and Phra Ther fled to an unknown location.
A police inquiry team led by Pol Major Jetnipat Siriwat kept trying to track him down and they were finally able to locate him at Wat Khaolan Thammaram in Tambon Pak Phraek and were able to make the arrest.
