PATHUM THANI – An online fashion jewellery seller posing as a modelling agent has been arrested in Thanyaburi district for molesting a 14-year-old girl.
Surat Thanyanont, 57, of Samut Prakan's Muang district, was apprehended at the car park of the Future Park Rangsit shopping complex in tambon Prachathipat on Tuesday night, said police. A Honda sedan with a Bangkok license plate was seized.
The man was wanted on an arrest warrant issued on Jan 26 by the Thanyaburi Provincial Court on charges of sexually assaulting under age 15 and depriving her of parental care for sexual molestation.
The arrest followed a complaint filed by a 14-year-old girl that she had been approached by an elderly man who claimed to be a modelling agent looking for children to play movie roles. She said Mr Surat told the girl to meet him in the Rangsit area before driving her to Future Park Rangsit, where he raped her inside his car.
Police said the suspect confessed to the charges, adding he had used the same ploy several times to lure victims into his sexual trap.
Pol Col Ariya Panfak, superintendent of Pratunam Chulalongkorn police station, said the suspect earned his living selling fashion jewellery online. He had posted messages claiming to be an agent looking to recruit fresh-faced stars for the film industry.
When a victim fell into his trap, he would drive her somewhere before raping her inside his car, police said. The suspect then abandoned the victim along a road and drove away, said Pol Col Ariya.