PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian court sentenced a Japanese man to seven years in prison Wednesday for repeatedly abusing a 13-year-old girl and paying her $10 each time.
Atsushi Kato, 41, was convicted of paying a child for prostitution. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also ordered him to pay 400,000 riel ($95) in compensation to the girl's family and to be deported after serving his sentence.
Kato, who is from Aichi prefecture in central Japan, was arrested in the capital in September when he visited his victim at a rehabilitation center after she was rescued from a brothel. The Japanese man confessed during testimony that he had had sexual relations with the girl about a half dozen times, each time paying her $10.
"I thought the girl must be over 18 because she wore cutie makeup at night," Kato testified through his translator.
Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign pedophiles because of poverty and poor law enforcement, but in recent years police and courts have increasingly targeted sex offenders.
Atsushi Kato, 41, was convicted of paying a child for prostitution. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also ordered him to pay 400,000 riel ($95) in compensation to the girl's family and to be deported after serving his sentence.
Kato, who is from Aichi prefecture in central Japan, was arrested in the capital in September when he visited his victim at a rehabilitation center after she was rescued from a brothel. The Japanese man confessed during testimony that he had had sexual relations with the girl about a half dozen times, each time paying her $10.
"I thought the girl must be over 18 because she wore cutie makeup at night," Kato testified through his translator.
Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign pedophiles because of poverty and poor law enforcement, but in recent years police and courts have increasingly targeted sex offenders.
No comments:
Post a Comment