PHETCHABURI: The abbot of a popular temple in Kaeng Krachan district has been accused of sexually molesting a schoolboy under his patronage.
The 12-year-old boy, a grade 6 student, was taken by his mother and representatives of a child rights foundation in Samut Songkhram to file a complaint with police at Kang Krachan against the abbot on Monday night.
During questioning, the boy alleged that the monk sexually abused him three times without his consent.
A teacher, whose name was withheld, said the boy was from an ethnic group at Pa La-u village in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan. The abbot knew a lot of people and had arranged for three boys from the village to change chools, enrolling them at a school near his temple in Kang Krachan, Petchaburi, Thai media reported.
The teacher said she noticed the boy seemed depressed,
She was told by a friend of the 12-year-old that the boy was being sexually molested. She asked the boy if it was true. He said it was and begged her to help him move to another place as he did not know who else to turn to for help.
The teacher told the student to immediately inform her if he was abused again.
On Aug 23, the boy had alleged the abbot had sexually abused him, the teacher said. She then coordinated with the child rights protection foundation and they took his mother to file the complaint.
According to Thai media reports, the boy’s mother said her son had earlier studied at a school in Hua Hin. Other children fro the village had gone to study at the school near the abbot's temple in Kaeng Krachan.
The abbot often came to Pa La-u village and handed out gifts to the residents. He persuaded people to send their children to study at the school near his temple, and promised to support their education.
While she was working in Hua Hin, her son phoned his friends in Kaeng Krachan and said he wanted to visit the temple and see the school there. The abbot later arrived at the village by car and took the boy to the temple, the mother said.
The abbot did not bring her son back home, and instead promised to arrange for his transfer to study at the school in Kaeng Krachan, with his friends, she said.
The change of school was arranged and her son remained at the temple with his friends. Only recently did she learn he was being sexually abused.
Pol Col Jittipong Sornjitti, chief of Kaeng Krachan police, said the boy would be taken to Phrachomklao Hospital in Phetchaburi for a physical examination. Officials from appropriate agencies would be present when he was questioned by police.
The abbot would later be summonsed to hear charges, the district police chief said.