Court upholds long sentence on child molester
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The Supreme Court Tuesday upheld a 37-year prison sentence on a 56-year-old Dutch man charged with molesting a 12-year-old boy on grounds that the prosecutors' evidence and that of witnesses - including the boy and police - was convincing.
Dutch national Willem Gerard Knoppien and Thai accomplice Thanes Bualuang, 37, were accused of conspiring to take the minor under 15 away from his parents and molesting him. The lawsuit stated Thanes lured the victim to Knoppien’s house in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin district for a cleaning job. Knoppien then molested the boy on four occasions, after which each time he paid Thanes Bt200 and the boy Bt120. The primary court in July 2009 jailed Knoppien for 37 years and Thanes for 26 years and eight months and Knoppien appealed. After the Appeal Court upheld his sentence, Knoppien appealed to the Supreme Court leading to Tuesday’s verdict.
The Nation
