Thai child trafficker sentenced to record 374 years in jail

[webfact 47,514]

Thai child trafficker sentenced to record 374 years in jail

By Nanchanok Wongsamuth

 

A guard holds keys in the long-term sentence zone inside Klong Prem high-security prison in Bangkok, Thailand July 12, 2016. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Thai trafficker was sentenced to a record 374 years in jail for child trafficking in a ruling that lawyers say will send a deterrent to other criminals.

 

Yuttana Kodsap, 31, was found guilty of child trafficking for the purpose of pornography after he lured children aged 7-12 to play computer games at his house where he filmed sexual acts with them and sold the videos on a chat app, police said.

 

A court in Thailand's southern province of Phang Nga sentenced him to 374 years in jail for his crimes and ordered him to pay 800,000 Thai baht ($26,000) in compensation to each of the five victims, according to court documents provided to the Thomson Reuters Foundation by the Court of Justice.

 

The case was the second trafficking case in Thailand in which offenders were sentenced to more than 300 years in jail. Last year the criminal court sentenced three men to up to 309 years each for trafficking children for prostitution.

 

In both cases, courts capped the imprisonment period at 50 years in accordance with Thai law.

 

Papop Siamhan, an independent lawyer with expertise in human trafficking, said child prostitution cases resulted in long prison sentences because they often involved several laws and many children.

 

"Long prison sentences will act as a deterrent because people will be afraid to commit such crimes, and it will also result in authorities and judges being more careful when handling such cases," he said. 

 

Earlier this year the United States praised Thailand for sentencing convicted traffickers and complicit officials to significant prison terms in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report.

 

Thailand was ranked as a Tier 2 country in the report, meaning it is making significant efforts to combat the crime.

 

Since January this year, courts have handed down 170 prison sentences in trafficking cases of which 74 were sentences of more than 10 years, according to the Court of Justice.

 

Archana Kotecha, Asia region director and head of legal at anti-slavery charity Liberty Shared, said long sentences can be effective deterrents when they are addressed at kingpins in trafficking cases and not low level offenders.

 

But she said this must be accompanied by seizure of assets which should be used to pay compensation to victims.

 

"Deterrence aimed at the freedom and assets of offenders is likely more effective and holistic as it takes into account the need to compensate victims for what they have endured and removes the commercial gain made by the offender," she said.

 

($1 = 30.3100 baht)

 

(Reporting by Nanchanok Wongsamuth, Guilbert, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-10-18

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

[sunnyboy2018 3,682]

Due to the listed reporters I find this story lacking credibility.

But check out the BBC documentary on Iraq sex trafficking by Imams...

[Thaiwrath 23,289]

38 minutes ago, webfact said:

A Thai trafficker was sentenced to a record 374 years in jail for child trafficking in a ruling that lawyers say will send a deterrent to other criminals.

 

 

38 minutes ago, webfact said:

 Last year the criminal court sentenced three men to up to 309 years each for trafficking children for prostitution.

 

Last year's sentencing of the three men (309 years each), obviously didn't send a deterrent to this evil man, so it's hard to believe it will deter every other sick pervert in future.

[Dexlowe 4,319]

6 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

 

Last year's sentencing of the three men (309 years each), obviously didn't send a deterrent to this evil man, so it's hard to believe it will deter every other sick pervert in future.

Overlapping in this case, I would suggest.

 

But every paedo taken off the streets makes for a great day. It's raining and cold where I am at the moment, but I feel happy.

[Soikhaonoiken 246]

Scumbag, 374 years jail is far too good, do the right thing Thailand... 

[Matzzon 4,534]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

A Thai trafficker was sentenced to a record 374 years in jail for child trafficking in a ruling that lawyers say will send a deterrent to other criminals.

As they already have something called a death sentence and life in prison and that is not working. Then one would assume that this vill only be a deterrent if the person in question would manage to live 374 years.

[mok199 10,941]

As we have seen with road carnage,corruption, drinking /driving , etc etc etc .Thailand has it all figured out!!!!

[legend49 3,223]

Ridiculous the sentence handed out. No one can serve 374 years, why not just say life imprisonment and never to be pardoned. Yet Mr Hiso in Mercedes Benz kills innocent people gets a small fraction of jail time.

[spidermike007 23,350]

3 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Due to the listed reporters I find this story lacking credibility.

But check out the BBC documentary on Iraq sex trafficking by Imams...

Men who have likely never spent more than 5 minutes engaged in contemplation or prayer. Men who know zero of their creator. 

[spidermike007 23,350]

Let us celebrate this verdict. Anytime one of these bent souls is taken off the streets the world is a better place. Not even his mother is going to miss him. 

[mikebell 11,341]

That'll teach him.  I bet he'll never do this again when he gets out.

[ChipButty 5,132]

Why not just give a life sentence with no possibility of parole? 

[ChipButty 5,132]

3 minutes ago, mikebell said:

That'll teach him.  I bet he'll never do this again when he gets out.

Who said he's getting out?

[chrisinth 8,740]

Just now, ChipButty said:

Why not just give a life sentence with no possibility of parole? 

That's correct. The years he was given during sentencing mean nothing but figures in the records. The total time in jail is capped to 50 years so, at the age of 31 it is possible that he will still be able to be released in his lifetime.

[Pib 12,466]

After credit for good behavior while in prison and a couple of govt sentence reductions/ pardons that the govt hands out like candy each year he be out in 10 to 20 years.

All the sentence reductions/pardons is the reason that even those sentenced to death rarely actually are in Thailand.