An American man teaching English at a Bangkok school has been arrested in Bang Khae district after he was accused of taking a teen to his condominium room to molest her.

Robert Le Roy Koehler, 41, was arrested after a complaint by the mother of a 14-year-old girl that she had sent her daughter to a school in the Phetkasem area on the morning of Feb 16. After school, she tried to contact her daughter for more than two hours but her calls were not received.

That same evening, she finally made phone contact with her daughter, who told her that she had gone shopping alone at The Mall Bang Kae.

On March 6, the mother said, she learned what really happened from another teacher at the school, who had been told about the incident by a girl who was a friend of her daughter.

According to this account, the American man had taken the girl to his condominium room, where he reportedly fondled and hugged her.

During questioning, Mr Koehler denied the charges, saying the girl had come to his room to study.

He was held at Phetkasem police station.