Accused Child Molester Caught in Southern Thailand After 14 years on the Run

BANGKOK – A man wanted for an indecent assault on a five-year-old girl in southern Thailand has been arrested after more than 14 years on the run.

Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police arrested Honchao Sae Oun, 62, at a house in Phangnga province on Friday.

Mr Honchao was living in Muang district of Yala in 2004 when he lured a five-year-old girl to his house, where he allegedly molested her.

The girl later told her parents what the man had done, and they filed a complaint with local police.

The Yala provincial court approved a arrest warrant of the suspect on charges of indecent assault and depriving a girl aged under 15 of parental care.

Learning a complaint was filed for molesting the child he fled and the case went cold, the Bangkok Post reports.

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.