Jet-setter monk accused of sex with under-age girl

Jet-setter monk accused of sex with under-age girl

Charges of statutory rape could bring 20-year jail sentence

Embattled monk Luang Pu Nen Kham Chattiko could face 20 years in jail after being accused of having sex with an underage girl, according to the Department of Special Investigation.

He is likely to be defrocked in absentia as the DSI had found clear evidence of his intimate relationship with one of eight women.

Almost daily revelations about the jet-set lifestyle, including tales of debauchery, have emerged every since this photo of Luang Pu Nen Kham Chattiko hit the Thai social media. (File photo)

The DSI on Sunday will conclude its probe into the alleged intimate relationship between the monk and a woman who claims the monk had fathered her child, said the agency’s Security Crime Bureau chief Pong-in Intarakhao.

The woman, who lives in Si Sa Ket, told the DSI she was approached by the monk, who is also known as Phra Wirapol Sukphol, when she was studying in Mathayom 2 (Grade 8) and only 14 years old, said Pol Lt Col Pong-in. She was living with her grandmother at the time.

The woman alleged that Phra Wirapol had offered to give her valuable items if she agreed to be his girlfriend. She and the monk later had sexual relations.

After she became pregnant, the monk took her to stay in Warin Chamrap district of Ubon Ratchathani where he rented a house for her. The monk had asked her grandmother to stay with her to take care of her baby boy. The child is now 11 years old.

Pol Col Pong-in said the DSI would speed up its interrogation of seven witnesses who had learned about the monk’s intimate affairs with the woman.

The witnesses include a kamnan and local administration officials.

The DSI would forward the findings to the Si Sa Ket provincial chief monk and the Ubon Ratchathani chief monk for them to defrock Phra Wirapol.

The DSI will seek the extradition of the controversial monk, who is currently visiting France, if he fails to return to Thailand by July 31.

DSI chief Tarit Pengdith said the monk’s alleged affair with the woman when she was 14 was a serious crime and she would be placed under witness protection.

He will present the details to a DSI meeting by month’s end.

Mr Tarit wants the case treated as a special investigation as it affected the religion and the public’s faith.

Phra Wirapol came to media attention after a video clip of him on a private jet began circulating last month.

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