British man arrested for possessing child pornography

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The Royal Thai Police arrested a British man on Tuesday, January 6, 2016 on charges of possessing pornographic images of children in Fang District in Chiang Mai. The police were alerted to the issue by the U.S. National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children who had tracked him by his IP address after they found him viewing child pornography online.

US Homeland Security investigators contact the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) in 2015 and their investigation led to the arrest of 64 year old Fabian Frederick Blandford of the United Kingdom on Wednesday, January 6 by DSI officers and Region 5 Police.

Police question British national Fabian Blandford over possession of child pornography after the US Department of Homeland Security alerted the Royal Thai Police to his IP address after he triggered an alarm with the U.S. National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children viewing child pornography online.

Police found that Blandford had ordained as a monk in a local temple and believed he did so in order to get closer to children. They found he had also been teaching English to local children and is married to a Thai woman who has one child.

The Director of the DSI Foreign Affairs and Transnational Crime Bureau Pol. Lt. Col. Paisit Sungkahapong served the arrest warrant issued by the Fang Court and investigators discovered a collection of child pornography on his computers. Police said it was clear he had taken the photos himself and believe the children are local.

Royal Thai Police raid the home of British national Fabian Blandford and arrest him for possession of child pornography on Tuesday, January 6, 2016.

He is being held in police custody at Fang Police Station and has been charged with possessing child pornography, a charge that can see Blandford in prison for up to five years and face a fine of 100,000 baht in accordance with legislation that too effect on December 7, 2015.