A British man wanted by UK police for a string of paedophile offenses has been arrested at a school in northeast Thailand, immigration officials said.
“He has been charged by British police authorities for indecent actions – 12 counts – to children under 14 years old,” Pariwat Satchaphan, an immigration inspector in Nong Khai province, told AFP by telephone late Wednesday.
Pariwat said the 61-year-old man was arrested at a school on Tuesday, though he did not say whether he was employed as a teacher there. “British police officials sent us a request to arrest him,” he said.
The man was identified in the International Business Times as Robert David Hastings, who was teaching at a language school in Udon Thani since 2005. He was married to a Thai woman there, according to a Channel 7 news report.
Hastings claimed innocence at a police news conference in Bangkok, where he was seen making jokes with the police.
“Why am I being arrested in England?” he said. “And I’m happy to go back and find out. I know I have done nothing wrong.”
A spokesman for the British embassy in Bangkok confirmed that a 61-year-old national had been arrested and that consular officials were providing assistance.
Story: AFP / Photo: Channel 7 News
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