A 93-year-old Australian man appeared in court in Thailand today accused of raping four sisters while living in South-East Asia.
Karl
Joseph Kraus had to be carried from a prison bus into a wheelchair by
other inmates in order to be wheeled into the dock in Chiang Mai
province, in the north of the country.
He is alleged to have attacked the girls, aged between seven and 15, in 2010.
On trial: Karl Joseph Kraus, 93, being carried
by fellow inmates from a prison bus into a wheelchair before being taken
into court where he is accused of raping three young girls
Suspect: Kraus is seen here being taken away by police after his arrest three years ago
After being arrested and bailed
on suspicion of rape, Kraus attempted to flee to Burma, from where he
was deported for not having a valid visa.
His lawyers are now trying to get the rape case dropped, arguing that he is too ill to stand trial.
Last month he told the Sydney Morning Telegraph, 'I'll be dead' before proceedings conclude, adding 'I've done nothing wrong.'
Kraus,
a German-born Australian citizen, is suffering from an array of serious
illnesses such as dementia and cancer, according to his lawyers.
However, while free on bail he was apparently seen driving around Chiang Mai and did not seem to be in poor health.
The former railway worker had been
living in Thailand for more than a decade when he first met the girls he
was alleged to have abused in 2008.
Thai
police claimed that Kraus offered to teach the children English, and
persuaded them to visit his house by offering them chocolate and money.
But the girls then told their parents that the OAP had repeatedly attacked him, and the parents reported Kraus to the police.
Officials
allegedly found more than 100 child pornography images on his computer,
many of which had been emailed to addresses based outside Thailand.
However,
Kraus later claimed that he was told the case would be dropped if he
agreed to bribe police with a sum equivalent to £10,000.
Tourist destination: Chiang Mai (pictured in a
file photo), where the assaults allegedly took place, is popular with
visitors from the West
DAILYMAIL
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