By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Law Enforcement Officers in Coulee Dam, Washington arrested thirty-seven year old Assistant-Principal Nate Piturachsatit on two counts of possession of child pornography, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The case stems from an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Mr. Piturachsatit is accused of soliciting and sending sexually explicit pictures to of 14-year-old girl residing in Wisconsin. Court documents allege that Mr. Piturachsatit conveyed these images via Instagram using his cell phone. Fortunately, no other minors are presently suspected as being victims.
Though Mr. Piturachsatit is a well respected and liked member of the community as well as among his peers and students in the school district, news of the arrest came both as a shock to parents and the community at large.
law enforcement officials became aware of the crime alleged as a result of a telephone call on January 8 by the mother of a 14-year-old daughter. She had received a “suspicious” package containing a shirt that reportedly was from the store Pink and had a sender named “Nate with a Spokane address. The Piturachsatit formerly resided in that city.
Police began interviewing the girl and she reportedly told police she began conversations with a man who sent her the package in November by Instagram. The girl informs Mr. Piturachsatit of being fourteen years of age. The person sending the package stated that he was 19.
As her correspondence continued, over a period of two weeks, the messages took on a sexual mood. Piturachsatit reportedly began sending to the alleged child victim sexually explicit pictures of himself.
Police requested to inspect the victim’s cell phone and they reportedly found that the sender requested she send naked pictures of herself, and in fact pressured her into delaying homework or going to bed to do so.
Piturachsatit was then interviewed by law enforcement, according to reports he admitted to sending the child victim pictures and videos of himself naked and masturbating. He also admitted to receiving naked photographs of the child victim.
Law enforcement officers arrived at an elementary school in Coulee dam during school hours and arrested Mr. Piturachsatit. Officials placed him under arrest and reportedly did not disturb classes or garner the attention of students.
He was cooperative with law enforcement officers, and was booked into the Okanogan County jail. During a bail hearing, Okanogan County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Branden Platted requested that bond be set at $250,000, but a judge instead increased this to $500,000. The reason for the increase in bail followed the discovery that Piturachsatit was planning to travel to Thailand later that afternoon for a “job interview”. He had planned moving his family out of the country previously. The court weighed this information as being evidence of a possible flight risk by Mr. Piturachsatit. As of the publication time of this article is still incarcerated.
By Darren Smith
Source: The Wenatchee World
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