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Friday 14 March 2008

Russian investor jailed for 13 years for abusing Cambodian teen


Alexander Trofimov, seen here, accused of sexually assaulting at least 19 Cambodian girls was jailed Friday for 13 years.

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — A Russian businessman accused of sexually assaulting at least 19 Cambodian girls was jailed Friday for 13 years after being convicted in the first of several cases against him.
Alexander Trofimov was arrested last October after six girls and their parents filed complaints with the police accusing the 41-year-old investor of abusing them.
Since then, 13 more girls have filed complaints against Trofimov, making him the focus of Cambodia's largest-ever paedophilia investigation.
The girls are aged between 11 and 18.
Trofimov has been charged with debauchery, a criminal charge covering a wide range of sex offences that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The first of several expected trials against Trofimov opened on Tuesday with a 14-year-old girl testifying that he forced her to have unprotected sex with him four times.
He rejected her claims, telling the court that he did not know her.
But Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Ke Sakhan said Friday that enough evidence existed to prove his guilt.
"The crime affects social order, the health and the dignity of innocent people and Cambodia," Ke Sakhan said while announcing the sentence.
A Cambodian, Phal Vannara, was also convicted Friday and sentenced to 11 years in prison for procuring the 14-year-old girl for Trofimov.
Trofimov and Phal Vannara were ordered to pay a total of 100,000 US dollars to the victim.
Trofimov's lawyer Ouch Sophal told AFP that he would appeal the sentence.
"The court does not have enough evidence to sentence him," he said, adding that a baseless verdict could deter other foreigners from investing in Cambodia.
"The court made the decision based only on the girl pointing a finger at my client. It may scare other investors who wish to come to Cambodia," Ouch Sophal said.
Trofimov is chairman of Koh Pos Investment Company, which in 2006 received permission to build a 300-million-dollar resort on Koh Pos, or Snake Island off Sihanoukville, an area Cambodia is trying to develop as a luxury tourist destination.
Dozens of foreigners have been jailed for child sex crimes or deported to face trial in their home countries since Cambodia launched an anti-paedophilia push in 2003 in a bid to shake off its reputation as a haven for sex predators.
A German man was jailed on Thursday for 15 years after being convicted of sexually abusing a girl while visiting Phnom Penh.

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