By Prak Chan Thul and Douglas Gillison
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
The boy at the center of the child sex abuse trial of Belgian national Philippe Dessart, 47, testified Friday that his alleged abuser did not molest him.
But before a verdict could be reached, the trial was adjourned until an unspecified date due to the day's lengthy testimony and questioning.
Arriving at Phnom Penh Municipal Court shortly after 2 pm, Dessart kissed the cheek of his alleged victim, a boy now aged 14, whom he referred to as his son.
Slouching at the dock and at times barely audible, Dessart proclaimed his innocence and said that his alleged victim, then 13, had not been naked when Dessart was arrested in the boy's presence at a Phnom Penh guesthouse on April 10, as authorities allege.
Presiding Judge Ke Sakhorn and Deputy Prosecutor Phlang Sophal both pressed Dessart to explain why at the time of his arrest he gave police an incriminating written confession, which was read out in court. "I promise to stop all sexual relations with the boy and to be in the future a real and good daddy," the statement said.
Dessart accused police of threatening him with imprisonment if he did not confess. "All what I tell in the police station is not true. I only repeat what the police official want I tell," he told the court.
Dessart appeared uneasy when questioned about his 1994 conviction in Belgium for child rape and torture, saying that he regretted his acts and had undergone lengthy psychotherapy to understand them. He then told the court that he planned to marry the mother of his alleged Cambodian victim and make a life with her family in Cambodia.
Court officials also questioned the victim and his mother, who both denied that Dessart had molested the boy.
"I want to help him because he did not do anything on me," the boy told the court adding that police had pressured him into accusing Dessart of molestation. "I was afraid police would jail me," he said.
But before a verdict could be reached, the trial was adjourned until an unspecified date due to the day's lengthy testimony and questioning.
Arriving at Phnom Penh Municipal Court shortly after 2 pm, Dessart kissed the cheek of his alleged victim, a boy now aged 14, whom he referred to as his son.
Slouching at the dock and at times barely audible, Dessart proclaimed his innocence and said that his alleged victim, then 13, had not been naked when Dessart was arrested in the boy's presence at a Phnom Penh guesthouse on April 10, as authorities allege.
Presiding Judge Ke Sakhorn and Deputy Prosecutor Phlang Sophal both pressed Dessart to explain why at the time of his arrest he gave police an incriminating written confession, which was read out in court. "I promise to stop all sexual relations with the boy and to be in the future a real and good daddy," the statement said.
Dessart accused police of threatening him with imprisonment if he did not confess. "All what I tell in the police station is not true. I only repeat what the police official want I tell," he told the court.
Dessart appeared uneasy when questioned about his 1994 conviction in Belgium for child rape and torture, saying that he regretted his acts and had undergone lengthy psychotherapy to understand them. He then told the court that he planned to marry the mother of his alleged Cambodian victim and make a life with her family in Cambodia.
Court officials also questioned the victim and his mother, who both denied that Dessart had molested the boy.
"I want to help him because he did not do anything on me," the boy told the court adding that police had pressured him into accusing Dessart of molestation. "I was afraid police would jail me," he said.
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