Grammy award-winning Russian conductor Mikhail Pletnev has been charged in Thailand with raping a 14-year-old boy, a crime that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in jail, police said.

Pletnev, artistic director of the acclaimed Russian National Orchestra, was released yesterday after he posted 300,000 baht (USD 9,300) bail following his arrest in the Thai resort of Pattaya. "He was initially charged with raping a boy under 15 which carries a jail term of four to 20 years," Lieutenant Colonel Omsin Sukkanka said.