Court sentences police officer to four years over 258,000 child abuse files
A state official has been sentenced to four years for possessing and distributing more than 250,000 files of child sexual abuse material involving thousands of Thai and foreign victims, as the DSI expands its investigation with international partners and European law enforcement agencies to dismantle a transnational network.
State official sentenced to four years for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material involving more than 250,000 files; DSI expands investigation with the FBI, AFP, HSI, New Zealand’s DIA, INTERPOL and European law enforcement agencies to crack down on a transnational network.
Pol Lt Gen Rutthapol Naowarat, Minister of Justice, disclosed the case in which the Criminal Court on March 10, 2026, handed down a judgment against a state official for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material online, a case handled by the Department of Special Investigation.
He stressed that the Ministry of Justice attaches the utmost importance to suppressing technology-related crime, especially offences involving the sexual exploitation of children, and has instructed the Department of Special Investigation to pursue its investigation and suppression efforts seriously and continuously to protect children and youths from transnational criminal networks, while also directing relevant agencies to expedite appropriate assistance and remedies for the victims.
In particular, children who became victims in this case must receive full protection, rehabilitation and care through the justice process, to prevent incidents of this kind from happening again in Thai society.
In this case, the public prosecutor from the Office of Special Litigation filed charges against a police corporal who, at the time of the offences, was serving under the Royal Thai Police, for offences relating to the possession, production, import, export, distribution or forwarding of child sexual abuse material for sexual exploitation, as well as offences under the Computer Crime Act 2007 and its amendments.
The Criminal Court sentenced the defendant on charges of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material under the Computer Crime Act 2007 and its amendments to a total of four years’ imprisonment and a fine of THB120,000.
The defendant pleaded guilty and paid compensation to all four victims at THB25,000 each.
As the victims did not object, the court suspended the sentence for three years, ordered the defendant to report to probation officers for one year, and to perform 24 hours of community service.
The case stemmed from an operation on December 3, 2024, when the Department of Special Investigation carried out an integrated operation with the Central Institute of Forensic Science, coordinated information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and received support from an Electronic Storage Detection K9 (ESD K9) from Our Rescue.
This marked the fourth time ESD K9 support had been provided for a search and arrest operation targeting a suspect who was a police officer from an agency in Phuket Province.
During the search, officers found a laptop computer, mobile phones and several electronic devices.
A large quantity of child sexual abuse material was found on the devices, in both image and video file formats, along with more than 258,000 other pornographic files.
The image files depicting child sexual abuse involved thousands of Thai and foreign child victims and were linked to Operation Blackwrist, an international cooperation effort between the Department of Special Investigation and law enforcement agencies including the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), INTERPOL, New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), and law enforcement agencies in European Union countries, dating back to 2017.
The case has continued to attract interest from overseas law enforcement agencies and the media.
This case was the result of the Department of Special Investigation’s continuous follow-up investigation since 2017, together with information coordinated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which uncovered links to a paedophile offender network sharing child sexual abuse material across various online platforms.
The Department then coordinated with law enforcement agencies from many countries in exchanging investigative information, leading to the arrest.
The Department of Special Investigation will next coordinate efforts to identify victims overseas so that child victims appearing in the images can receive assistance.
Furthermore, during the reading of the Criminal Court’s judgment, foreign law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation closely followed and attended the hearing, as the case was the result of international law enforcement cooperation in suppressing online networks distributing child sexual abuse material.
Pol Maj Yutthana Praedam, Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation, said the case resulted from the Department’s expanded investigation in cooperation with several foreign law enforcement agencies, with close information-sharing leading to the search and arrest of the suspect, as well as the seizure of electronic devices containing a large amount of child sexual abuse material.
Further action was taken in line with government and Ministry of Justice policy.
