Pathum Thani: Parents are heartbroken after their 11-year-old daughter was tricked and raped by a young man who was a caretaker of an amusement park in a famous shopping mall in a rented room and molested her in a foam pit, and then recorded a clip to blackmail her. The police have now arrested him.
According to Thai News Agency, police showed up to arrest Mr. Somchai, 27 years old, an amusement park ride attendant in a shopping mall in Pathum Thani Province, on charges of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13, taking a child under the age of 15 for indecent purposes, taking a child under the age of 15 away from their father for indecent purposes, recording images or sounds of sexual assault or indecent acts for illegal gain, possessing child pornography for sexual gain, and committing indecent acts with a child under the age of 13.
During the arrest, Mr. Somchai, the suspect, admitted to luring the 11-year-old girl to have sex with her in a rented room and molesting her in a hidden corner of a foam pit in an amusement park. He also recorded a clip of himself having sex with the girl and used it to blackmail her into going to see him again. He was then dismissed from his job on February 25 because he smoked marijuana while working and was still in his probationary period. The owner of the amusement park did not know that this employee had committed the crime against the girl. Mr. Somchai then returned to his hometown in Hankha District, Chai Nat Province, until the police arrested him yesterday (February 28).
This arrest was made after the victim's parents came to ask for help from Ms. Pawina Hongsakul, President of the Pawina Hongsakul Foundation for Children and Women. Pol. Maj. Gen. Yuthana Jonkhun, Commander of Pathum Thani Provincial Police, accepted the case and ordered Pol. Col. Prinya Thongma, Superintendent of Pratunam Chulalongkorn Police Station, which is the area under responsibility, to have the investigation team track down evidence to prosecute Mr. Somchai.
The latest today, Ms. Pawina and relevant officials, the parents of the injured girl, along with the management of the department store, discussed preventive measures to prevent such incidents from happening to children who use the services, and announced the arrest to the parents of the injured girl. Meanwhile, the management of the department store expressed their condolences to the parents of the child, accepted responsibility for what happened, and was willing to cooperate in checking and reviewing all CCTV cameras, and if there were any blind spots, they would fix them, and submit all information to the police. Initially, they talked to the business owners and issued a policy that only female employees would be allowed in the amusement park area.
The parents of the 11-year-old victim are still grieving over the incident, as they never thought that something like this would happen to their daughter in a public place. Some of them admit that it was their fault for keeping their daughter in check.
Then, Ms. Pawina, President of the Pawina Foundation, along with officials traveled to inspect the scene of the incident. The department store executives cooperated by taking them to inspect the scene of the incident in order to learn from it and improve the place. They also emphasized that parents should not let their children play alone. They should have friends or guardians to watch them. In addition, department stores should regularly inspect the rental companies and their safety measures.