TikTok star and teacher Luke Rockwell has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a minor and infecting him with STDs while working as an English teacher at a Christian private school in Bangkok. Rockwell, 29, from Florida, who has over 1.3 million followers, was arrested near Phra Khanong Canal on Sunday.
According to local media reports, Rockwell reportedly got in touch with a 16-year-old student on social media before having sex with her "on multiple occasions," while he recorded it and asked the girl to "keep it a secret." Following his arrest, he acknowledged the charges against him and was handed over to Khlong Tan police station, police said.
Teacher or Predator?
According to the mother of the young girl, Rockwell, who goes by Teacher Luke on his TikToks, exposed her to chlamydia and gonorrhea, which led to the young girl developing abdominal pain last month.
The frightened mother rushed her to the hospital before discovering the alleged sex.
On August 29, the terrified mother called the police, and Rockwell was taken into custody on Sunday from his opulent apartment for "sex with a minor" and "recording the acts," DailyMail.com reported.
On Monday, the shaken and devastated mother of the young girl told the outlet: "My daughter had been messaging Teacher Luke for months using my phone. She deleted the messages after they chatted. They met and had sex without me knowing, then my daughter caught gonorrhea and chlamydia from him.
"I knew something was wrong when my daughter looked very sick. She looked pale and she was clutching her tummy complaining about the pain in that area. I kept on asking her questions until she told me about this man called Teacher Luke.
"My daughter said the first time they had sex, Teacher Luke used protection but after he did not use any. She trusted him. Teacher Luke told her to keep everything a secret until she turned 18. He told my daughter that he loved her and would let her come live with him when she's no longer a minor.
"My daughter messaged him the STD test result where she had tested positive for gonorrhea. He promised that he would take responsibility for the costs.
"I'm not complaining to the police because I want money or compensation. I don't care about the money.
"I want every woman and child to know how evil Teacher Luke is. It's embarrassing for me to tell people about what's happening to my family but I hope it prevents Teacher Luke from ever taking advantage of any girl in the future."
Shame in the Name of Teacher
Rockwell hails from Melbourne, Florida, and is a graduate of the University of Central Florida. He had earlier worked at the renowned Wall Street English college located in Bangkok, where he served as a teacher for local residents.
Rockwell has prior experience working at the Bangkok Christian College (BCC) and the Thai Christian School, where he gave short English lessons.
Over the course of a few years, his TikTok account has amassed over two million followers, with a substantial portion of his audience comprising young girls.
The alleged victim, who was a student at a school where Rockwell had taught previously, is reported to have communicated with the teacher through another one of his social media accounts on Instagram.
The mother of the alleged victim described her daughter as a "vulnerable and troubled" teenager who had been adopted at the age of three. She mentioned that her daughter had very few friends and faced challenges in socializing.
"My daughter can hardly speak Thai and she has very few local friends. She is troubled and she really believed that Luke loved her. We have been home schooling her because of all the difficulties she has had," she said.
On August 29, the report was handed in to the Khlong Tan district station of the police. Later, the city's criminal court granted an arrest warrant for Rockwell.
Rockwell is charged with "depriving a minor over fifteen but under eighteen years of age for indecency," according to the complaint. In Thailand, the legal age of consent is 15. However, anyone under the age of 18 is legally regarded as a minor.
"The alleged victim's mother came to see the investigator informing him that her daughter had pain in the abdomen.
"When she questioned her daughter, she found that in early February she had been in contact with the suspect over Instagram. They talked often before meeting in a shopping mall and then he took her to his condo where they had sex. The couple had been in constant contact afterwards."
Officers from the Khlong Tan station were accompanied by a team from the Department of Welfare For Children and Women at Police Headquarters when the arrest warrant was executed on Sunday morning.
