Posted on 01/04/2005 4:30:26 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
A BOY whose mother died in the tsunami is feared to have been kidnapped from a Thai hospital by a pedophile.
Kristian Walker, 12, from Stockholm, was said to have been led away by a dark-haired stranger. Swedish police sent seven officers to Thailand to investigate.
The boy's father, Dan Walker said he was gravely concerned for his son.
He said that Kristian and two of his other children went on holiday to the Thai resort of Khao Lak with his mother -- Mr Walker's ex-wife -- and her boyfriend.
When the tsunami struck their hotel, Mr Walker's ex-wife was thought to have died along with her boyfriend and Kristian. The other two children survived.
Mr Walker flew to Thailand to pick up the two and returned to Sweden with them, only to learn Kristian had been taken to a hospital near Khao Lak by a middle-aged, moustached European on the day of the tsunami.
"Kristian was treated and released, but he was brought back the follow-
ing day by the same man to have his wounds treated. Then, once again they left, hand in hand, and haven't been seen since," he said.
Mr Walker said his father, an American citizen, was in Thailand looking for the youngster.
Dr Kampongsree Somprutthana confirmed Kristian was treated at the hospital.
"Kristian was here in the hospital," he said. "He was taken away by a man."
The man he left with was described as "European-looking, with a moustache and a red shirt".
A child protection group has warned that pedophiles could be taking advantage of the chaos to prey on youngsters.
Karren Flanagan, Australian spokeswoman for anti-child sex tourism group Child Wise, said
it was possible pedophiles could snatch children orphaned by the disaster or kids wandering alone after being cut off from relatives.
"In times of natural disasters or war children become even more vulnerable," Ms Flanagan said.
"It doesn't surprise us at all that these things are starting to happen."
Indonesian authorities have launched an investigation into reports of trafficking of children orphaned by the quake.
There have also been claims of sexual abuse of children in Sri Lanka.
Not likely. Why take him from a facility where he is more likely to be found?
Hmmm...you have it all figured out, don't you.
I was/am one of those defenders. First, I think we should let the story play out before we jump to conclusions with what happened to the boy. I can say the punishments for something like this in Thailand is more more severe than for an equivalent crime in the US. This notion that a lot of Freepers have that Thailand is a have for pedophiles is simply not true. It might have been in the past, but it is not anymore.
My only surprise is that most posters on this thread seems unaware of what Thailand is very well-known for among the NAMBLA crowd.
To put it another way, it is not unexpected that a larger than usual portion of the population there when the tsunami hit were pedophiles.
I thought that the only reason that tourists?? go to Thailand was for child sex?? I am surprised that Bawney Fwank hasn't made a trip yet, to check out the situation and let Congwess know what is going on there??
Very well said. He did bring the boy in twice for treatment. Would a pedophile or trafficker risk getting caught?
I hope this story has a happy ending.
I've never understood why they couldn't...after all, don't these guys actually practice what they "preach"? Seems to me it would be easy enough to find some of their victims to testify.
RICO, even, perhaps?
i haven't been able to piece together my copy of mosaic law...
but as far as my opinion goes... with the rate of recurrance in pedophiles... they need to be incarcerated for ever or incinerated for a week, either one.
teeman
There are thousands of victims. It is possible that the hospital released him because his injuries were not as severe as others.
Keep in mind, this man did bring the child back a second time. I just think we might not want to jump to conclusions until more information is released.
Prayers for Kristian. Dear God - this poor child.
"claiming the problem of child prostitution was no worse than here in the U.S."
Realizing how little I know about child prostitution, I went looking for some information.
I found some interesting things here:
http://www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/childprostitutionandpornography.html
These things included:
"The US Department of Justice estimates the numbers to be between 100,000 and 3 million. These figures include children involved in prostitution, child pornography and who have been trafficked into the United States." (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
An "estimate" of from 100k to 3,000k is not an estimate; it's just a WAG.
"In New York City 51% of the prostituted children are estimated to be males, and prostituted boys are also found in large numbers in San Francisco and New Orleans." (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
So, 51% of the prostituted children are estimated to be males, which means they reflect demand from the 2% of the population that suffer from same-sex attraction disorder, while the other 49% reflect demand from the 98% of the population that does not suffer from SSAD.
Surely, the only conclusion we can draw from that is that "homosexual" men are no more likely to abuse minors than are heterosexual men. Right? Right? I mean, 51/2 and 49/98 are roughly proportional, right?
"There are no statistics available on the numbers of children involved in prostitution in the United States." (ECPAT, CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
Yeah, that's what I thought. I mean, one is too many, but if there are millions of them all over the streets, how come I ain't never seen none?
"Girls involved in prostitution are increasingly getting younger, dropping from 14, to 13 and 12 years of age. Child prostitution in the United States began to escalate in the late 1980's after new laws made it more difficult for officials to detain runaway children." (CATW Fact Book, citing Lois Lee, Children of the Night, Brad Knickerbocker, "Prostitution's Pernicious Reach Grows in the US", Christian Science Monitor, 23 October 1996)
Well, hey, the priority here is that children's rights are protected, isn't it? So what if they end up selling themselves at 12 and dead at 20? At least we didn't violate their rights by "detaining" them, putting them in a children's home, and forcing them to live right until they graduate high school, like those awful Christians used to do.
"If that were true, then why didn't we read about these types of concerns and incidents during all those hurricanes in Florida last year?"
Good question. One probable reason is that it isn't as easy to walk into a hospital in Florida and walk out with a child as it is now in those disaster-stricken regions.
"Some, not all, tourists go to Thailand specifically to prey on young girls and boys."
I've read admissions to that effect in the media.
"Keep in mind, this man did bring the child back a second time. I just think we might not want to jump to conclusions until more information is released."
Okay, but the first thing I'd say to that man is, "Start explaining, and it better be good."
There aren't words for these monsters, at least none that I can post.
At last, thanks for posting that. Also, SE Asia is known for its "sex vacations" (Holidays, Euro-style) but no one seems to be reporting on that EXCEPT on Foxnews there was a mention of that very thing but is was almost mumbled over.
Thanks again, more research needs to be done on that.
There is no comparison between the two events. Children in Florida didn't lose everyone they knew and there was an extensive pre-evacuation prior to the hurricane occurring. The difference was warning and preparation.
No comparison.
"If that were true, then why didn't we read about these types of concerns and incidents during all those hurricanes in Florida last year?"
Papers rarely cover it when it does happen because the child's not named and the perps usually aren't because it'll cause the child's id to be obvious, and God knows, Florida didn't have nearly as many houses demolished as Thailand did.
Does that answer your question?
Thailand has sex tourism, probably far worse than the U.S., but there are underage prostitutes, usually runaways or illegals, in every American city, too. Don't think for a second because you don't regularly read about Philadelphia or LA or NYC or Miami as a sex-tourist-capital, the U.S. ain't got any.
Maybe a healthy boy will bring him more money on the market. Who knows.....
Thailand has sex tourism, probably far worse than the U.S., but there are underage prostitutes, usually runaways or illegals, in every American city, too. Don't think for a second because you don't regularly read about Philadelphia or LA or NYC or Miami as a sex-tourist-capital, the U.S. ain't got any.
That's for sure. Thailand is far worse than the US. But it's horribly high here too. Far too many of the powerful support this for any major change at the moment.
I don't doubt at all that child prostitution is a problem here in the U.S., but I have seen actual advertisements in European papers and magazines luring men to countries like Thailand, promising young girls and boys as sexual "partners." I suppose it's possible that, in the dark subculture of the pedophile, foreign tourists come to America for the same thing, but it sure isn't openly advertised.
I do hope that there is a good explanation for the disappearance of this 12 year old boy. It's possible, I suppose, but if there were a legitimate reason, originally, then why hasn't this man contacted local authorities, the military, Swedish officials, etc.
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