A monk has been arrested and defrocked for alleged sexual violations against boys and posting pornographic content online.
“He has confessed that he has committed the crimes for more than 10 years already. Whenever his behaviour was exposed at a temple, he would simply move to another,” said Pol Lt General Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of Thailand’s Action Taskforce for Information Technology Crime Suppression.
Surachate identified the suspect, now defrocked, as 40-year-old Sikarin Klaisuwan.
“He opted for temples that had often organised mass ordinations for novice monks because there were plenty of boys for him to approach,” Surachate said.
He said Sikarin was being charged for abusing under-15s. The charges carry a jail term of between four and 20 years and a fine of between Bt80,000 and Bt400,000.
Surachate said police found Sikarin had kept many clips of sexual assaults against boys at his quarters in Kanchanaburi province.
In another case, police found a 30-year-old monk in Khon Kaen province was releasing pornographic content on Line and Facebook.
After defrocking, the suspect was identified as Danainat Saengphan.
“He apparently lured girls to talk to him and send their nude photos to him without them knowing that he was a monk,” Surachate said.
He added that his agency also arrested an 82-year-old German for possessing child pornography.
“He is liable to a jail term of up to five years and a fine of Bt100,000, if convicted,” Surachate said.
