90-year-old Arrested for Raping 4 girls News in Detail
A 90-year old Australian who allegedly raped four young sisters, was arrested in Thailand, informed the police on Wednesday, Jun 30.
Karl Joseph Kraus, who was arrested at his home near the city of Chiang Mai lured the girls to his home with imported chocolates and English lessons. One girl was only 5 when the abuse began. The sisters are now aged between 7 to 15.
Kraus who has been in Thailand for more than ten years approached the girl's family in 2008, offering to teach the kids English. He used to lure the children with sweets and he would ask them to perform sexual acts with them. He gave $120 for the elder sister recently instead of sweets for the deeds, informed police.
Police recovered around 100 photographs of naked children from his home, informed the police chief Kritapol Yeesakorn. Some photos portrayed him posing naked with other children. Police said that the investigations to identify them and contact their families are going on.
Police also said that they are probing whether he was a part of a pedophilia network, as many of the pictures were e-mailed overseas.
The parents noticed that the girls had lost interest in playing outside and inquired what was wrong with them. They took them
topolice who investigated and immediately sought an arrest warrant.
One girl was 5 when the alleged abuse began. The sisters are now 7 to 15, police said.
Karl Joseph Kraus was arrested Tuesday at his home near the northern city of Chiang Mai, where police confiscated about 100 photographs of naked children, said Doi Saket police Chief Kritapol Yeesakorn.
Australian Karl Kraus is escorted by Thai police after being arrested in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on June 29.
Wichai Thaprieo, AP
Thai authorities said they found dozens of indecent images of children in the home of Karl Joseph Kraus, here in police custody on Tuesday.
Some photos showed Kraus posing naked with other children, and police are trying to identify them and contact their families, Kritapol said. He said police were investigating if Kraus was part of a pedophilia network, noting many of the pictures were e-mailed overseas.
Kraus, who has lived in Thailand for more than a decade, approached the girls' family in 2008 with an offer to teach the sisters English, Kritapol said.
"He would lure them into his house with sweets, usually chocolate from abroad or luxury sweets, and he would ask them to perform sexual acts with him," Kritapol said. "For the eldest of the four sisters, he recently gave her 4,000 baht ($120) instead of sweets."
The parents recently noticed the girls had lost interest in playing outside and asked them what was wrong, and then took them to police who immediately sought an arrest warrant, the police chief said.
Kraus was charged with rape and sexual abuse.
His Australian passport says he was born in Berlin. The Australian Embassy in Bangkok could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Kritapol said Kraus does not have a lawyer yet and has refused to talk to police until he has one.
Neighbors described Kraus as an active 90-year-old who still drives his own car, police said. But when police arrested him he appeared weak, walked with a cane and complained of diabetes and high blood pressure, Kritapol said. Police took him to a Chiang Mai hospital where he remains under surveillance.
The date of his next court appearance is not yet known.
Several Southeast Asian countries - including Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam - are magnets for pedophiles because of lax law enforcement, corruption in the justice system and poverty that forces children into prostitution.
A number of high-profile suspects have been caught in Thailand, including a Canadian arrested in 2007 after an Interpol manhunt sparked by some 200 Internet photos showing him allegedly abusing Vietnamese and Cambodian boys. He was sentenced to eight years and three months in jail.
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