SAMUT PRAKAN : Police have arrested a 40-year-old man for allegedly raping two toddlers at his house which was opened as a nursery.
Phetnamnueng: Nursery at his home
The mothers of the child victims, aged one year and nine months and two years old, were yesterday asked to identify the suspect who is being detained at Bang Phli police station.
The man, identified as Phetnamnueng Toaim, who works as a taxi driver, was arrested during a raid on his house in the Sinphet housing estate in tambon Bang Pla of Bang Phli district.
He lives with his wife at the house, which offers day care for toddlers in the neighbourhood for 1,500 baht a month, according to one of the victim's mothers, who used the service for three months.
The mother of the girl aged one year and nine months said she noticed bruising on her daughter's body when she bathed her on Jan 5.
A doctor who examined the girl believed the injuries were the result of rape, said the mother, whose name was withheld. She later learned from other mothers that their daughters were also harmed. "They did not take further action because the centre paid them compensation of 6,000 baht," she claimed.
However, she and the other mother decided to seek help from the Pavena Foundation for Women and Children.
Its president, Pavena Hongsakula, who took the mothers to the police station yesterday, said she learned of the claims on Jan 29 and immediately told the police.
The suspect denies any wrongdoing.