SIEM REAP On May 21st, the Siem Reap Provincial Court charged a 37-year-old British national with indecent assault, as stated under Article 246 of the Cambodian Criminal Code, for the alleged child sexual abuse he perpetrated against two underage girls. If found guilty, the suspect shall be punished with 1 to 3 years of imprisonment.
The Siem Reap provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection police summoned the accused to the police station in order to question him in relation to the disclosure of sexual assault by the two underage girls, following the complaint from the mother of the two girls. The police brought the suspect from the school he worked in, located in Siem Reap. The investigating judge ordered the provisional detainment of the man.
APLE received information about this case in March 2020, when a report was received from an NGO working with the community of Sala Kamreuk Village in Siem Reap. The report concerned suspicion of sexual abuse perpetrated against an underage girl on different occasions by a British teacher. APLE immediately referred the case to the police for their intervention.
The police swiftly responded to the case and conducted an interview with the 13-year- old girl, who disclosed the abuse and implied that the accused had also molested her older sister.
This case pertains to the 3rd foreign national arrested in 2020 within APLE initiated cases, marking the 14th foreigner, including six U.S. citizens, five British, one Swedish, one German and one Australian national arrested since 2018 in relation to sexual crime against children. In addition, 27 Cambodians were also arrested for child sexual abuse during the same period.
APLE Cambodia and its partner organizations will work with the victims in order to ensure their emotional and physical recovery, while APLE’s lawyers are currently offering legal aid services to the family.
