PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CP)— Cambodian courts convicted American, French and Japanese men Wednesday of sexually abusing teenagers in three separate cases that authorities said should serve as a warning to pedophiles.
Maj. Keo Thea, chief of the Phnom Penh police division that protects minors and victims of human trafficking, said the cases were a victory for police, who have been trying for years to crack down on foreign pedophiles drawn to the country by poverty and lax law enforcement.
"Today's convictions should serve as a lesson to other foreigners who wish to visit Cambodia only to have sex with minors," he said. "They should be aware and stay away."
The coastal Preah Sihanouk provincial court issued separate rulings on the American and Frenchman.
The American, 57-year-old Alan Arthur Perry, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of paying four children aged 16 and 17 for prostitution. He was ordered to pay 4 million riel ($950) in compensation to the families of the children.
Michel Roger Blanchard, a 45-year-old Frenchman, was convicted of "unlawful removal" of 16-year-old boys for the purpose of sexual relations, a charge that carries a penalty of up to 20 years.
He was sentenced to 17 years in prison for taking the boys on a trip in the beach resort area of Sihanoukville, about 115 miles (185 kilometres) southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. The judge ordered him to pay 3 million riel ($710) in compensation to the boys.
In the capital, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced 41-year-old Japanese Atsushi Kato to seven years in prison on charges of repeatedly abusing a 13-year-old girl. He testified to having sexual relations with the girl a half dozen times, each time paying her $10.
He was convicted of paying a child for prostitution and ordered to be deported after serving his term.
"I thought the girl must be over 18 because she wore cutie makeup at night," Kato testified through a translator.
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