Court throws out appeal of two rapists

The Appeal Court has turned down requests by former schoolteachers convicted of raping their students for a retrial, citing a lack of new evidence.

The court yesterday read its decision to reject a request for retrial made by Lon Sorakanit, 68, a former schoolteacher in Sai Mai district and Pimon Chunsri, 58, a physical education teacher from the same school.

Lon and Pimon were found guilty of detaining, assaulting and raping minors at schools, a teachers’ quarters and a hotel between June 1 and Aug 10, 2006.

Lon was convicted of multiple rapes, including that of a seven-year old girl.

Both defendants had also colluded to deceive five girls, bringing them to a hotel and then assaulting and raping them. In another case, one girl was lured to a washroom where she was raped.

The incidents occurred in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district.

The convicted pair had filed a petition with the court, asking it for a retrial, claiming that no witnesses had seen Lon commit the offences.

The evidence in one instance referred to a witness who said she saw Lon come from a room where a victim was raped, while the victim was crying for help.

The court said the witness statement was included in the police investigation, meaning that it was not considered “new evidence”. The evidence the convicted duo submitted to the court for consideration did not comply with the requirements of the 1983 Retrial of Criminal Case Act, according to the court.

On Nov 20, 2007, the Criminal Court handed down 50-year jail terms to the two defendants.

On Sep 7, 2012, the Appeal Court cut the lower court’s sentences and ordered the defendants serve 12-year prison sentences each, citing some unclear evidence and statements from the defendants.

On Jan 18, 2016, the Supreme Court increased the sentence from 12 years to 19 years and three months for Lon after evidence suggested he had committed the crimes at the school.

Pimon is due to be released in May when he completes his full prison term which includes the period in which he was detained after his arrest.

Lon has served 11 years of his jail term. His full sentence is due to end in 2025. Lon and Pimon were taken from Bangkwang Central Prison in Nonthaburi province where they have been imprisoned to hear the court’s ruling yesterday.