A man who set up a fake Facebook page purported to belong to a female modelling agent has been arrested on charges of luring young women into sending him nude pictures and then selling them.
The 28-year-old suspect, identified only as Sak, was arrested on Saturday at his house in the Tha Kham area of Bangkok, by a team officers from the Thailand Internet Crimes Against Children (Ticac) unit, the Anti-Human Trafficking Division and Metroplitan Police Division 9. He initially faces charges of possessing and trading child pornography, as two of the victims were under 18.
Police say the suspect, who works as a graphic designer for television shows on a popular station, created a Facebook account using an image of a woman as his profile photo. Claiming to be the page of a modelling agent, it targeted young women who wanted to work as product presenters, or “pretties” as they are commonly known, said a police source.
When young women responded and began chatting with the suspect via Facebook, he persuaded them to send nude images and clips by telling them they would be shown to customers for job purposes. He also told his victims that he could help them get into the entertainment industry, said the source.
After receiving the pictures, the suspect pretended to ask for the numbers of the senders’ bank accounts so that he could transfer money to them. But after they sent him the account numbers, he blocked them on his Facebook account. He then asked some victims to send him more nude photos or he would share their other images online if they refused, said the source.
Some victims later found their photos and clips on a pornography website. They then filed a complaint with the Ticac unit at the Royal Thai Police Office.
Ticac subsequently opened the investigation that shed light on the suspect’s activities. During the raid on the suspect’s house, three electronic devices were seized. A search at his office found more pornographic clips of victims on his office computer and mobile phones.
The source said authorities found a huge sum of money had been transferred into the suspect’s bank accounts from the sale of pornographic clips.
Police have sought court approval to detain the suspect at Thon Buri Remand Prison pending further investigations.