New York doctor held in Cambodia accused of having sex with boy aged 14

Accused: Dr James D'Agostini is in a Cambodian prison while the charge is being investigated. Dr. James D'Agostino (left), 56, a pediatric emergency doctor at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, was arrested Feb. 16 and charged in the Phnom Penh municipal court with purchasing child prostitution. He's shown here treating a baby in a hospital in Cambodia where he volunteered.

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated 24th April 2011

An American doctor working as a volunteer in a Cambodian children's hospital has been accused of having sex with a 14-year-old boy.

Dr. James D'Agostino, 56, from, Manlius, New York, is being held in a Phnom Penh prison after being charged with buying child prostitution.

A judge said he could be held for up to six months before the municipal court decides if the case will go to trial. He faces 15 years behind bars if convicted.

D'Agostino, a pediatric emergency doctor at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, went to Cambodia in January 2009.

He was arrested on February 16 and suspended from his post at the National Pediatric Hospital last month. His lawyer, Pek Vannak, said the doctor denies the charges.

Vannak told Syracuse's Post Standard: 'He told me that it was a big mistake.'

Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) - an organisation which fights child sex in Cambodia - began investigating the doctor in January 2010, said director Samleang Seila.

In an email seen by the Standard, he said that his group learned D’Agostino was living with a 24-year-old man and three boys — ages 7, 10 and 14 — in his rental home.

He paid school tuition for the teenage boy with whom he has been accused of having sexual contact .

APLE tipped off police who questioned the boys at school where the 14-year-old told police and a school teacher he had been allegedly sexually abused by D’Agostino, Seila said.

He also claimed D’Agostino had told the boy not to say anything if asked about sexual contact, reported the Standard.

Darryl Geddes, an Upstate spokesman told the paper that the medical center has had no direct contact with the doctor since his arrest.

He arranged his first trip to Cambodia through Projects Abroad which places volunteers throughout the developing world.

In a story published on the website, D’Agostino said: ' I came to Phnom Penh with little expectations other than hot days, annoying mosquitoes and exotic foods.'

In blog entries, he explained how he helped people in one village pave a muddy road with stone and obtained uniforms for 60 school children.

Cambodia used to be known as a place where Western tourists could easily buy sex with children.

But the country bowed to international pressure to crackdown on the trade which resulting in an increase in arrests and prosecutions.