Suwan, 48, (last name withheld) and Ae, 18, (not her real name) had filed a complaint to Children, Juveniles and Women Division Commander Maj-General Wimol Pao-in.

They claimed that Montri, chairman of the Child Protection Foundation, and foundation official Techat Meechai took Ae away from her parents, detained her for over three months and defamed Suwan so that he was convicted of a crime.

Montri told police that Ae's stepmother, identified only as Piyaporn, had asked his foundation for help, so it looked into the girl's case before taking her and her stepmother to file a complaint against Suwan with Klong Luang police in Pathum Thani.

The stepmother then wanted the foundation to take care of the girl until Suwan was sentenced to three years and four months in jail.

Montri vowed to continue his work of protecting children from sexual abuse.

Lt-Colonel Manas Thong-simoung, assigned by Wimol to be in charge of this case, said police would release Montri pending the results of the investigation.

A source said Piyaporn in the morning had given police her testimony, which corroborated what Techat had indicated when he reported to police.

According to Suwan's account, Techat picked Ae up at her school in Pathum Thani's Chiang Rak Noi district telling her that someone had tipped him off about sexual abuse of the girl and that he would take her to her mother. The girl, accompanied by the school principal, went to the foundation's office, where she was told to sign a piece of paper without reading it, he said.

Ae was then taken to Klong Luang Police Station before being held at the foundation for three-and-a-half months.

Suwan insisted he was innocent and that relatives at home could back him up.