The alleged rape of a year-old girl in Saraburi by five teenagers earlier this month has prompted the Crime Suppression Division CSD to seek better ways to deal with cases of sexual assault. Pol Maj Gen Jirabhop went on to say that that sex offenders have a "higher chance of re-offending" compared with other types of crime. As a result, he said he had last week ordered his officers to step up efforts to arrest sex offenders with outstanding warrants for raping underage girls.
In just three days, he said, they nabbed four men, including a grandfather who allegedly raped his eight-year-old niece. The year-old grandfather, identified as Kanok Maenthapthim, is said to have used expensive gifts, a tablet and a smartphone, to buy his granddaughter's silence, according to investigators. The old man allegedly raped the girl at a house in Kanchanaburi's Sai Yok district in June this year.
But it was an incident in Prachin Buri's Kabin Buri district in May last year which led to his arrest. The man is reported to have lured a year-old girl into going for a walk near a well on the outskirts of the village before using the seclusion to assault her. Mr Suwan also threatened to harm the victim's parents if she told them what had happened, CSD investigators said. A check of his criminal record found the man already had an outstanding warrant for a similar assault in Kabin Buri.
Five other girls have also made reports of him assaulting them. The next suspect is Thawatchai Wongwai. The year-old is accused of raping a year-old girl in Rayong.
According to the investigation, Mr Thawatchai had befriended the girl and, over the course of a year, groomed her into keeping their sexual activity a secret before she finally reported the crime. The last suspect arrested in the CSD operation was a year-old man wanted in connection with a sexual offence that occurred five years ago.
