British teacher Fabian Frederick Blandford kidnapped children and sold them.
Jan 2016, British man arrested for child abuse.
A 64 year old British expat and former monk, F. F. Blandford, was apprehended in Chiang Mai on January 6th on charges related to child pornography, sexual abuse, and kidnapping. The arrest came after a substantial number of explicit photographs were discovered on his computer's hard drive. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) from the United States played a key role in guiding local law enforcement to Blandford's residence in Wieng, Fang district.
The DSI became aware of Blandford's activities when the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children alerted them to the upload of several child pornographic images on the internet using Blandford's IP address. Police arrested Blandford at his home while his wife and child were present during the operation. Subsequently, he confessed to assuming the persona of a benevolent elderly man, offering free English lessons to children as a facade while engaging in their abuse and sharing the illicit photos online.
Sept 2016, British teacher who kidnapped children and sold them is spared jail in Thailand.
A 64 year old British teacher and former Buddhist monk, Fabian Frederick Blandford, has been found guilty of kidnapping children and subjecting them to sexual abuse, but shockingly, he walked free from court with a fine of just £1,800. The sentence was suspended for a period of three years.
During the trial in Fang Provincial Court, Chang Mai, Thai judges convicted Blandford of engaging in sexual acts with minors. Additionally, he was found guilty of trafficking and selling children for sexual exploitation and pornography. Despite the serious charges, the court imposed a total sentence of four years and two months, suspending it for three years.
Evidence presented in court revealed that Blandford, who worked as an English teacher, had direct access to young children, amplifying the gravity of his crimes. Thai police arrested him in January following a raid where they discovered hundreds of indecent images of children on his computers. The investigation was initiated based on information provided by the United States' Department of Homeland Security, which had detected disturbing pedophilic content linked to Blandford's IP address.
Notably, Blandford, who is fluent in Thai, had previously been ordained as a monk in Chiang Mai but later left the monastery to marry a local woman. The couple has a child together. As part of his sentencing, Blandford is required to regularly report to probation officers every four months.