CHACHOENGSAO: Police have arrested a man claiming to be a fortune teller for allegedly luring two teenage girls into having sex by telling them his magic powers could dispel their bad luck.
Boontham Charoensiri, 54, was apprehended at the Wang Phrai resort in tambon Bang Wua of Bang Pakong district on Friday as he was preparing to have sex with a teenage girl, said Pol Maj Gen Theerapol Jindaluang, chief of the Chachoengsao Provincial Police.
The arrest followed a complaint by a woman that her 16-year-old daughter had been sexually abused by Mr Boontham, originally from Phanat Nikhom district in Chon Buri.
The woman said that Mr Boontham, a scrap metal scavenger, had driven his pickup truck to buy scrap metal at her house. While at the house, he started chatting with her daughter and told her that she was experiencing bad luck because a headless ghost was following her.
He claimed he had Khmer magic powers that could ward off the bad luck. He then asked for the girl’s mobile phone number and they later started to chat via the Line application.
Mr Boontham later lured the girl to the Wang Phrai resort, where she was sexually abused, said Pol Maj Gen Theerapol.
On Friday, another woman filed a complaint with Bang Pakong police that her 18-year-old daughter had been lured by a man claiming to be a fortune teller.
The second complainant provided details regarding the vehicle used by the man and what he told her daughter, which matched the details given by the mother of the first girl.
Police returned to the resort and found Mr Boontham’s pickup parked in front of a room there. When they opened the door, they saw Mr Boontham and the girl wearing only towels.
The girl told the officers that Mr Boontham had taken her to the room to perform a ritual to ward off her bad luck. He asked her to take off her clothes and put on a towel, and then started kissing her, she said.
Mr Boontham confessed he had lured the girl into having sex. However, he had not yet done anything with her as police intervened.
Police said he claimed he had lured only two girls, but the officers were not convinced. A check of his Line chat records found he had chatted with as many as 10 girls.
Pol Maj Gen Theerapol said the suspect would be sent to Chachoengsao provincial court for detention on twocharges: depriving a girl aged over 15 but not more than 18, and committing indecent acts against a girl aged under 18 who was not his wife.
.png?w=600)
