Australian Teacher Held For Sex Abuse In Phuket

[webfact 70,298]

Australian teacher held for sex abuse in Phuket

CHALONG, PHUKET: -- An Australian man has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a four-year-old male student at an international school in Phuket.

Andrew Clements, 51, was arrested at his house in Chalong by Thalang Police at 8:15pm on Friday.

The arrest came after a Thai woman told police Mr Clements abused her son in a toilet at Phuket International Academy (PIA) last year.

The boy only told his mother about what took place recently. He was unable to specify the date the incident happened.

Mr Clements denies a charge of sexual abuse.

Len Peters, head of PIA Day School, has made the following statement regarding the case:

“We regret to confirm that a former teacher at the Phuket International Academy Day School, Mr Andrew Clements, was arrested over the weekend by the Royal Thai Police and charged with committing an act of child abuse against a student at the school.

“This is profoundly distressing for everyone connected with the school. As soon as we learned of this allegation, we immediately offered our full and unconditional cooperation to the family involved, and to the Royal Thai Police.

“It should be noted that Mr Clements was dismissed from the school in December 2009. There is absolutely no connection between his dismissal from the school and the criminal charge which he now faces.

“The safety and welfare of the children in our care, and of their families, is our absolute priority.

We have already contacted the parents of all the children who attend the school, and our staff, to notify them of the situation.

We will keep them fully informed as the situation develops, and will provide whatever support is necessary to the wider school community.

“Given the highly sensitive nature of the allegation, and of the need to protect the privacy of the family involved, we are not able to make any further comments.”

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-03-22

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[george 2,896]

Please keep this topic civil!

Thanks

/Moderation team

[phuketrichard 4,062]

“It should be noted that Mr Clements was dismissed from the school in December 2009. There is absolutely no connection between his dismissal from the school and the criminal charge which he now faces.

They must have had some idea somethig was not right.

[richwantsin 0]

What kind of screening process do these guys get before landing a teaching job in this country?

[MuayThaiUdonThani 0]

"It should be noted that Mr Clements was dismissed from the school in December 2009. There is absolutely no connection between his dismissal from the school and the criminal charge which he now faces.

They must have had some idea somethig was not right.

Yes. there must be more to this story,

[cacruden 352]

What kind of screening process do these guys get before landing a teaching job in this country?

I don't know but the majority of those that would "abuse" are not going to be caught by background checks (sorry to say). I would prefer all those that go after kids (especially teachers, since they are suppose to be held to a higher standard) - be kept in Thai prisons, not transferred back to their home country to serve the sentence.

[Jimmu 99]

What happened to innocent until proven guilty? If he did it then nothing would be too horrible to do to him but so far we don't know!

[jamiemac 0]

What kind of screening process do these guys get before landing a teaching job in this country?

The people i know who have gone into this industry tell me they had no screening at all, they were very surprised.

[Maejo Man 879]

As per usual in these sort of cases, the "hang 'em high" brigade are here in force. Shall we wait till the story of events unfolds perhaps?

[ozymandious 19]

The Teacher was dismissed for performance issues not related to the allegations brought against him. The allegations have only come forth recently. I have very strong feelings related to child abuse of any sort, but I'm tempering this with the fact that this man has not yet been convicted of the alleged crime. Please don't jump to conclusions.

[webfact 70,298]

several "hang 'em high" posts deleted

Please note the Australian is not convicted by a court of law yet!

Thank you

[Stjohnm 123]

There isn't a punishment strong enough for crimes like this

[Krungbin 211]

Questions to be asked:

"Why was he dismissed for?"

And than:

"Is that little boy - btw... 4 years old now... - the only one?

And than:

"Is the (smiling) accused the only one involved?"

and than... when the truth will be known, and if he is the culprit... I hope they'll keep him in one of their jails for a long long time...

[perax 0]

before we hang & quarter the guy, you migth want to consider how children that young might not be very reliable witnesses, particularly in the case of something that might have happened a few months in the past.

[loong 2,382]

Much as I detest child molestors, I really hope that there is more evidence than what has been reported here.

It seems strange that the child has waited so long before speaking up.

If he is guilty I will join the "string him up" brigade, but with this report I cannot form an opinion.