Phnom Penh –On December 19th, 2019, The Phnom Penh Municipal Court pronounced a verdict against Mr. Thorn Vichet, a Cambodian sex offender, sentencing him to 5 years in jail with a 2 year suspension, as well as ordering him to pay a compensation of approximately 3,000 USD to a girl victim for “Indecent Act Against a Minor Under 15 Years” as stated under Article 42 of the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
On April 25th, 2019, the convicted was arrested by the Khan Daun Penh Police in Phnom Penh for having sex with an eleven-year-old girl. The act had allegedly happened three days before, when the accused asked the victim out for the night and later to his room to sexually abuse her.
It was the girl victim’s grandmother who noticed what had happened and made a complaint verbally to the Khan Daun Penh Police for their intervention.
On May 3rd 2019, the case was referred to APLE Cambodia from the Commune Committee for Women and Children (CCWC) in Khan Daun Penh. APLE provided social and legal services to the girl and her mother, as they both requested.
The girl is currently receiving coordinated psychological therapy, while APLE’s lawyers provided legal representation and legal counseling from the beginning of the court case until the verdict.
“We welcome the sentence, as victim compensation is essential for the recovery process. The plaintiff is satisfied with the compensation granted.” – Said APLE’s Lawyer.
