Police Arrest Former Senator for the Sexual Procurement of a 15-Year-Old Girl

According to a police source, a former senator has been charged with purchasing sex from a 15-year-old girl after arrest warrants for him and four other suspects was issued by the court.

The source stated that the 57-year-old former senator, identified only as Mr. Boonsong, met with investigators at the Ban Mo police station on Wednesday evening to acknowledge the charge and was granted parole.

Mr. Boonsong, a prominent politician representing a major coalition party, was reportedly one of six clients who purchased intercourse from a 15-year-old girl in Ban Mo district at a resort where her mother worked.

Investigators had gathered sufficient evidence to issue arrest warrants for five of the six suspects, including Mr. Boonsong, according to Pol Col Somkid Sawisai, chief of the investigation division for the provincial police in Saraburi.

The other four were identified as Suriya, a hospital staff member; Pornchai, a contractor in Lop Buri; Decha, a former director of the National Office of Buddhism in Saraburi; and Prasong, a merchant.

On Monday, Mr Decha was arrested in Ang Thong while Mr Prasong was detained in Nakhon Pathom. The source did not disclose information about the other two suspects.

Pol Col Somkid stated that some of the accused did not completely confess, whereas the others did. All of them were free after posting bond. He added that there was insufficient evidence against the sixth suspect to issue an arrest warrant.

Mamiao, the girl’s mother, will be detained by police for child prostitution and illegal entry, according to Pol Col Somkid.

The scandal broke out when the girl’s father and one of her teachers filed a police report in Saraburi against the girl’s mother, who purportedly forced her daughter into prostitution the previous year.

Her mother put her to work as a housemaid at the resort, charging clients between 1,500 and 2,000 baht per visit. Reportedly, the girl was able to identify all of her patrons, including Mr. Boonsong and Mr. Decha.

In other police news, a 16-year-old student who had been gang-raped by four men attempted suicide by fleeing in front of a train at a railway crossing but was saved.

The girl was reportedly in severe distress due to the fact that the four suspects, aged 20 to 27, were free on parole and their relatives continued to harass her and her family.

Tuesday night, the girl attempted suicide in Muang district by running towards a railway crossing and into the route of a train. The bystanders managed to yank her to safety.

The police took her to a local station to calm her down before transferring her to Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital for treatment.

The assault occurred on April 28. According to Thai media reports, the four suspects confessed during police interrogation, but they were not detained because, according to police, they posed no escape risk.

The superintendent of the Huai Thalaeng police station, Pol Col Sitthiphon Thimsungnern, stated that investigators filed charges and submitted their report to prosecutors in June. The girl and her family turned to the media and a non-governmental organisation for assistance after two months of silence.

The victim’s family visited the Huai Thalaeng police station on August 30 for an update on the case.

Two days later, the family sought assistance from the social media advocate Kanthat Pongpaiboonvej, alias Kan Chompalang, who took them to see Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police chief.

A few days later, the suspects were eventually brought to court. The court granted their parole on a surety of 400,000 baht and ordered them to wear electronic monitoring devices despite opposition from the police and prosecutors. They were also commanded to maintain a minimum distance of one kilometre from the victim’s residence.

However, the girl was filled with dread because her alleged perpetrators lived in the same neighbourhood, according to a source with knowledge of the case. She sought treatment at a psychiatric hospital after relatives of the suspects allegedly intimidated her.

Allegedly, some relatives threatened to employ solicitors to sue her for embarrassing them. They allegedly also asked others to disseminate the word that she had been gang-raped. The girl felt embarrassed and dared not attend school, according to the source.

Pol Col Sitthiphon stated that he had ordered officers to confer with the suspects’ families. If the suspects did not cease their intimidation, the police would petition the court to revoke their parole.

Since she was 12 years old, the girl, a Mathayom 4 pupil at a school in Huai Thalaeng, has suffered from depression, but she has not consistently taken her medication. She reportedly attempted suicide on multiple occasions.

The provincial office of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security carried the girl to the Nakhon Ratchasima Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital for treatment before sending her home. She is currently under the protection of the Ministry of Justice’s Witness Protection Office.