Crime
64-Year-Old Swiss National Christian Python Busted in Central Thailand for Publishing Child Pornography
PATHUM THANI – Thailand’s Tourist Police have arrested a 64-year-old Swiss man in Central Thailand’s Pathum Thani Province on Wednesday over allegations that he published child pornography online.
Armed with an arrest warrant Police raided the townhouse of Christian Python, 64, and found 248 electronic files containing pornographic video clips featuring children, the youngest of whom was four years old, said deputy chief Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakparn.
The search was initiated after a request from Thailand’s Internet Crimes Against Children (TICAC) Task Force.
Deputy chief Pol Maj-General Surachate Hakparn told The Nation that the suspect reportedly confessed to possessing and uploading the files, which he had collected for over a decade.
Police are checking his computer to see if he passed on or sold any of the material to others, which would bring an additional charge of human trafficking by reaping benefits from child pornography, Surachate said.
Police initially charged the suspect with possessing child pornographic materials – an offence punishable with up to five years in prison and a fine of up to Bt100,000.
Surachate also took the opportunity to warn customers who buy sexual services from youths under 18 that they too risked punishment, along with prostitution ring operators.
He said police had so far closed 700 child porn websites.
By Anan Wichitpracha and
Pongsathat Rujiphuttanyaphat