Retired Thai Boxer Convicted for Tried Rape

A former Olympic boxer, who was the primary athlete from Thailand ever to win a gold medal, was charged and sentenced this week to greater than three years in jail for kidnapping and trying to rape an underage woman, in accordance with a number of experiences.

The Related Press, The Nation and The Bangkok Submit reported Thursday that former Thai boxer Somluck Kamsing was sentenced to a few years, one month and 10 days in jail. Kamsing, 52, was discovered responsible by the provincial courtroom in Khon Kaen of tried rape, abducting a minor aged over 15 however beneath 18, taking a minor for indecent functions and committing an indecent act in opposition to a minor by way of power, in accordance with the AP.

The embattled boxer was additionally ordered to pay $3,525 in compensation to the sufferer, in addition to $1,470 to her guardians, the outlet reported.

After his sentencing, the retired Olympian was launched on a bond of 300,000 baht (roughly $9,000 USD) and mentioned he would enchantment the conviction, in accordance with The Bangkok Submit. The outlet reported that the conviction stems from a December 2023 incident during which a then-17-year-old woman from Kalasin, Thailand had accused him of violently assaulting her in a resort room after assembly earlier that very same night time at a membership.

The Bangkok Submit reported that native police mentioned {the teenager} had bruising on her breast and close to her vagina, and that Kamsing had tried to rape her within the resort room however couldn’t get an erection so he aggressively rubbed himself in opposition to her. Kamsing denied the claims and mentioned he had the woman’s consent, claiming additionally that he allegedly stopped after studying the woman’s actual age.

Kamsing had turned himself in to police per week after the assault occurred and “admitted to creating a mistake and promised to right himself,” police mentioned, in accordance with The Bangkok Submit, although the boxer denied the felony fees. 

A person who drove Kamsing and the teenage woman from the membership to the resort on his bike that night time was additionally initially charged with abducting a minor and transporting a minor for molestation, The Bangkok Submit reported in December 2023, although police didn’t establish the person on the time. This week, the information outlet reported that one among Kamsing’s associates was acquitted on fees associated to the tried rape, though it’s unclear if the person acquitted this week was the identical man charged alongside the boxer in 2023.

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Kamsing rose to prominence in Thailand within the late Eighties, profitable a bronze medal within the nation’s 1989 King’s Cup earlier than later profitable the gold in 1995.

The following yr, Kamsing went on to turn out to be a nationwide hero, profitable a gold medal within the featherweight boxing competitors on the 1996 Olympic Video games. Kamsing had overwhelmed out stars like U.S. boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Bulgarian boxer Serafim Todorov, who defeated Mayweather within the quarterfinals and in the end misplaced to Kamsing within the finals.

His post-boxing life and profession has made headlines for a number of controversies, nonetheless, together with a divorce and a failed fuel station enterprise, in accordance with the AP.

In 2018, Kamsing was declared bankrupt earlier than Thailand’s boxing affiliation helped bail him out of his money owed, in accordance with The Bangkok Submit. Since he retired from boxing, Kamsing has reportedly appeared in quite a lot of tv reveals and flicks in an try and transition into an appearing profession, the information outlet reported.

When you or somebody you realize has been sexually assaulted, please contact the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.