An American man teaching English at a Bangkok school has been arrested in Bang Khae district after he was accused of taking a minor to his condominium room to molest her.
Robert Le Roy Koehler, 41, was apprehended in front of a condominium building on Phetkasem Road in Bang Khae, police said on Wednesday.
He was wanted on a warrant issued by the Thon Buri Criminal court on Aug 30 on charges of depriving a minor below 15 from parental care for obscene purposes.
The arrest followed 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 complainant 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, claiming the girl had come to his room to study only.
He was held in custody at Phetkasem police station for legal action.