A French suspected paedophile was arrested for allegedly seducing Thai widows on a dating app to sexually abuse their children.

The Frenchman, identified by police as Jean Andre, 40, reportedly lured the lonely women into relationships before setting his sights on their young daughters.

He would invite the women and their girls to his room in Bangkok, flaunting stacks of cash to appear wealthy. However, he would allegedly molest the children when their mothers were away.

Police detained Jean Andre at The Park at EM District in Bangkok on July 19, following a tip-off from a Thai influencer named Cholly.

Undercover police placed the area under surveillance until they spotted a man matching Jean Andre's description entering a restaurant. They arrested him before raiding his condo room.

Police allegedly found two phones with encryption programmes to conceal hundreds of files containing child pornography. The images reportedly featured girls as young as six years old.

Jean Andre also had an expired visa after entering Thailand in 2022. He was hauled to the Thong Lor Police Station to face charges.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Thongchai Phairoh of Immigration Division 1 said: ‘The suspect has been doing this for at least two to three years. The number of victims might be more than 10, including Thai and foreign girls.

‘He filmed them and stored the material on his phones inside a secret and encrypted storage application. We are investigating to determine if there was any exploitation, such as commercial sales of the videos and images.

‘If this is the case, it would constitute a human trafficking charge.'

TikTok influencer Cholly who reported the suspected to police, claimed Jean Andre evaded arrest because he allegedly targeted poor Thai women who lacked the money to fight back legally.

She said: ‘If you've listened to this story and realise that you may also be one of the victims, please contact us through our page Love Story by Cholly.

‘We are determined to bring this man to justice because we don't want someone like him living freely in our country.

‘This French man has been living in Thailand, most likely overstaying his visa, as it expired long ago and there's no record of any extensions.'

She said the suspect had a kiss mark tattoo on his neck and regularly prowled the ThaiFriendly dating app to search for new victims.

She continued: 'His method was to tell women he owned six condominium units and needed someone to take care of them while he travelled to the US, offering a 5 per cent commission if they agreed to manage the properties. He targeted those working in real estate. If they owned properties or vehicles, he would get them to contact his agent, from whom he would collect commissions, essentially making a living off them.

'Once he gained a woman's trust, he'd invite them over, flash lots of cash, and ask them to move in. But he would never touch them, even if they had been together for a year.

'He'd say things like, ‘I don't like party girls, they're dirty,' and claimed he liked quiet, homely women.

'Eventually, one of the victims found he was sexually attracted to children and he even bragged about his preferences by showing videos. He claimed wealthy mothers usually did not cooperate, but poor ones would because they could not afford to fight him legally.

'He said some of them would accept 100 to 200 USD in exchange for allowing him access to their children.'

Jean Andre was detained at the Thonglor Police Station and charged with possession of child pornography for sexual purposes and illegally overstaying in Thailand. He was denied because he was a 'serious public threat' without a valid visa or permanent address.

Authorities said they were expanding the investigation to determine if he had accomplices who helped procure victims.