Accused child molester caught after 14 years

Man wanted in December 2004 assault on Yala 5-year old found in Phangnga

published : 10 Aug 2019 at 15:13

Plainclothes officers question Honchao Sae Oun (second from left), at his house in Phangnga about an assault he was accused of committing in late 2004. (Crime Suppression Division photo)

A man wanted for an indecent assault on a five-year-old girl in Yala has been arrested in Phangnga province after more than 14 years on the run.

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police arrested Honchao Sae Oun, 62, at a house in Thai Muang district on Friday, said Pol Col Neti Wongkulap, chief of CSD sub-division 5, on Saturday.

Officers said Mr Honchao was living in Muang district of Yala in December 2004 when he lured a five-year-old girl to his house, where he molested her. The girl later told her parents what the man had down, and they filed a complaint with local police.

The Yala provincial court approved a warrant for the arrest of the suspect on charges of indecent assault, physical assault and depriving a girl aged under 15 of parental care. The suspect subsequently fled and the case went cold.

When CSD officers resumed efforts to locate the suspect, they found that he had been in hiding in his home province of Phangnga.

Mr Honchao confessed to all charges, they said. He was handed over to Yala police for further legal proceedings.