Thai media, The Nation, reported on Wed (6 Feb) that the Bangkok Metropolitan Police has arrested a 51-year-old French man, who is a Singapore MOE teacher, for buying sex with teenage boys.
Subsequently, MOE confirmed yesterday (7 Feb) that their teacher Jean-Christophe Quenot, a French teacher at its Language Centre, is indeed being investigated by Thai authorities.
“Jean-Christophe Quenot is a teacher in the French department at MOE Language Centre,” said MOE in response to local media enquiry. “We are doing internal checks, and note that this matter is being investigated by the Thai authorities.”
The MOE teacher was arrested on 4 Feb in a hotel room. A computer notebook, a memory card, two hard disks, a camcorder, camera, cell phone, eight packs of Kamagra oral jelly (a cheaper version of erectile dysfunction-treating Viagra) and 36 condoms were seized, Thai police disclosed.
He allegedly picked up boys aged 13-15 at the Huay Kwang Stadium to have sex with him. A father complained that his teenage son had gone missing and police say they traced him to the foreigner’s hotel. The suspect was allegedly caught with two boys aged 14, who were not the missing boy.
Thai officers said they found a tripod in the room and a computer with pornographic movies for the boys to watch with him. They also found a video of the suspect having sex with a teenage boy. Two boys reportedly told police they were invited on Facebook by the suspect to have sex with him for Bt800-Bt1,000 (S$35-43).
The MOE teacher has admitted to recording sex videos with a boy but insisted it was for his own viewing. Thai police are checking for the videos online, which could lead to additional charges.
MOE teacher has gone to Thailand 10 times
Investigations further revealed that the teenagers at the stadium had an unusual amount of cash because they were “going out with a foreigner”.
The MOE teacher told Thai police that he taught French in Singapore and has over a year ago befriended boys at the stadium by “volunteering to teach them English and football”.
As he grew closer to the boys, he invited them to have sex with him for cash and would record it, the police said.
Immigration records showed that the suspect had entered Thailand 10 times before, with the previous trip in mid-2018, each time staying in Bangkok for around 5 days.
Thai police initially charged the man for “taking away” minors under 15 from their parents or guardian and raping children. Investigations continue.
According to a French social network site, he listed his marital status as “celibataire” (single):
Source: The Online Citizen
Avvanz‘s opinion: Avvanz works with educational institutions all over the globe with respect to background checks in view of child protection. Criminal, Global Sanction, Civil Litigation and Social Media Checks are the minimum checks that need to be undertaken on any individual who has contact with children as part of his/her role.
