Siem Reap: Yesterday a 46-year-old Russian national was arrested by police after two underage girls testified that they were sexually exploited and used in pornographic video filming. Earlier in December, child protection organization APLE started an investigation into the Russian man after information was obtained that he had underage girls in his home.
APLE’s investigation also revealed that the suspect had posted sexually explicit photos of female minors on his Facebook page, at which point the police were immediately informed. During the arrest police seized digital evidence from the suspect, on which they found child pornography displaying the two 15 year old girls. In addition, the Russian man confessed to having sex with these two girls.
APLE’s Deputy Director of Field Operations, Khoem Vando, said:
“Again, this is another case of exploitation in which children are used for the production of child pornography. These children not only have to deal with trauma resulting from their exploitation, but they also have to deal with the impact that the materials may be used by other sex offenders online.
APLE’s investigations in 2014 led to the arrest of three individuals who were involved in the production of child pornography. These three individuals count for 50% of Western suspects that were arrested in APLE cases. In order to counter this disturbing trend, APLE will launch an internet hotline for the general public to report suspected cases of online child exploitation on January 1st, 2015.
