Chiang Mai Police have arrested a 33-year-old, unemployed teacher after finding child pornography on his computers. The man had previously worked as a music and dance teacher at a private school. He was reportedly paying a LINE app group to download sexual images of children, some as young as 10.
On Friday 19th June 2020, Chiang Mai police collaborated with the Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children task force and raided the home of “Chai” (surname not given) in the Saraphee district of Chiang Mai.
Police were tipped off about his internet activities which included downloading pornographic materials of young boys and girls.
Officers arrested the man after they discovered pornographic images of both male and female children on 2 laptop computers, 2 mobile telephones and several USB flash drives and SD storage cards. He reportedly admitted that he had downloaded the materials after joining a group on the LINE app that charges for membership before files can be downloaded.
Chai is being charged with possessing child pornographic material, which carries a maximum punishment of 5 years in prison and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht. Authorities will also investigate the LINE group for possible involvement in human trafficking.
The ICAC task force launched its “Save Children Operation” during the COVID 19 outbreak as computer-related crimes spiked. Police have made 47 arrests in 24 provinces over the last 56 days. Over that time they have helped 100 victims and seized more than 150,000 images of child pornography.
