Child sex offender: I’m not doing anything wrong

Alan Smith, 53, formerly of Carter Street, Accrington, was jailed for sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl in August 2005 - but now works at a school near the Thai capital Bangkok.

Despite being on the sex offenders register, which forbids him to work with children in this country, UK authorities are powerless to stop him in his new role teaching 10 to 15-year-olds.

Officers from the national Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre said they have told the Thai authorities "several times" Smith was a convicted child sex offender but nothing was done.

But in an exclusive interview from the home he shares with his new bride Pach, 25, in the northern Bangkok suburb of Ratchadapisek, Smith said he was not a paedophile and was "giving something back" by teaching disadvantaged children.

He said: "I have done everything by the book. I am never left alone in my classes with the children and I am doing a good job.

"The school knows about my past and are happy with my work. There is no problem."

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said the situation showed that tighter controls were needed to monitor sex offenders, especially as Thai authorities appeared not to act on British concerns about Smith.

Smith, who acted as Accrington Stanley's mascot Stan the Monkey before his conviction and also worked as a Butlins Redcoat, teaches English at the Nongyai temple school set in the grounds of a Buddhist monastery 20 miles north of the Thai capital.

He pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child after an incident in the kitchen of a pub where he worked in 2005.

He was sentenced to six months in jail and was placed on the sex offenders register for seven years for pulling the girl's knickers from under her trousers and touching her on the back.

The register is intended to protect the public but cannot be enforced abroad by UK authorities.

Smith said he moved to Thailand in November last year because he was being "crucified" in Accrington.

He said his house and car were vandalised and he was abused in the streets.

Smith said he met Pach at a bar where she worked soon after moving to Bangkok and they married in February.

He said that they now live a modest life in a one-room apartment in the outskirts of the capital and he earns £350 a month from his teaching role.

He added: "I have been doing the job for several months and I love it.

"I am not a pervert, the conviction was just something stupid.

"Everybody who knows me, knows I am a decent person.

"I have got nothing to hide, I am happily married and have no paedophile tendencies.

"Here I am not banned from working with children and I have a great relationship with all of the pupils in my classes.

"I am an entertainer and I try to teach the classes in a fun way.

"I intend to live and work here for as long as I can because I love my life and I'm doing something worthwhile."

He said he got his job as a teacher through an employment agency who he says exaggerated his qualifications.

He also said that he was told by the agency to buy a teaching degree from notorious black market hotspot Khao San Road in Bangkok and he also bought a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification after being told to by his agency.

He said that his working visa will run out in the new year and that he is concerned about whether it will be extended because of publicity surrounding his situation.

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said the fact that Smith was able to work in Thailand is a worry.

He was being closely monitored in England but there are no rules stopping people on the sex offenders' register moving abroad.

Mr Pope said: "It is regrettable that the Thai authorities do not seem to take this man's convictions as seriously as we do in the UK.

"Tackling sex offenders is a very high priority for British police but I don't know how high a priority it is in Thailand.

"Any reasonable person would be concerned that he has been able to avoid the attentions of authorities simply by moving abroad."

He called for a change in the law and said restricting the travel of people on the sex offenders' register should be considered.

The Royal Thai Police said that they were investigating Smith's job at the school but no action has yet been taken.

Thai police visited Smith at school on Monday but he has not been arrested and is still working at the school.

He completed a full day of teaching at school yesterday. (WEDS).

A spokesman for CEOP said: "Both Lancashire police and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre passed reports to law enforcement colleagues in Thailand on several occasions alerting them to the presence of the individual."