‘Sense of panic’ among police as customers of child-prostitution ring identified
So many Mae Hong Son bureaucrats were connected to a child-prostitution ring that if all everyone was arrested, the province’s bureaucratic work would be disrupted, a source inside the Mae Hong Son Police has said.
Meanwhile, Pol Lt-General Poonsap Prasertsak, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 5, yesterday said the latest progress in the investigation into child prostitution in Mae Hong Son would result in arrest warrants being issued for seven or eight suspects, including police officers, teachers and panderers.
Poonsap said the warrants were mostly targeting customers of the child-prostitute ring based on information provided by the victims. Police made up the largest group of customers, including high-ranking officers such as a deputy superintendent.
“The national police chief and prime minister have clearly ordered a crackdown on prostitution and insisted all officers stay away from all illegal activities or else they will be punished swiftly according to the law,” he said.
However, there still had not been arrest warrants issued as of press time on Sunday and Mae Hong Son Police had only stated that they would issues summons for further interrogation only.
As many child victims were being questioned by authorities to identify customers, it was reported that there was a sense of panic among officers in the province, many of who come from different provinces but have been implicated in illicit sexual services there.
The police source said that if there was a serious investigation of all the officers who had patronised child prostitutes, there would be so many arrests that the province’s bureaucratic functioning be affected.
