AP
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: A Cambodian court has sentenced a local man to 15 years in prison for arranging for four local girls between the ages of 12 and 14 to have sex with foreigners, a court official said Thursday (August 9th).
Sao Meach, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge, convicted Thach Mey, 36, on sexual procuring charges during a trial Wednesday (August 8th), said Sok Kalyan, a prosecutor.
Thach Mey was arrested and charged in February for his role as a middleman making arrangements for foreigners to have sex with the four ethnic Vietnamese girls. The crimes occurred in 2005 and 2006, the prosecutor said.
Sok Kalyan said Thach Mey, who is also ethnic Vietnamese, told the court that he made US$20 each time a girl was sent to have sex with a foreigner.
A tip-off from a child rights advocate group led to the arrest of Thach Mey at his home on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, the prosecutor said, adding that the judge also ordered the convicted man to pay a total of US$2,000 in compensation to the four girls.
Cambodian authorities have stepped up efforts in recent years to crack down on sex offenders trying to exploit children in Cambodia. Ethnic Vietnamese are often exploited in the Cambodian sex trade, partly because they are discriminated against as a minority.
Sao Meach, a Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge, convicted Thach Mey, 36, on sexual procuring charges during a trial Wednesday (August 8th), said Sok Kalyan, a prosecutor.
Thach Mey was arrested and charged in February for his role as a middleman making arrangements for foreigners to have sex with the four ethnic Vietnamese girls. The crimes occurred in 2005 and 2006, the prosecutor said.
Sok Kalyan said Thach Mey, who is also ethnic Vietnamese, told the court that he made US$20 each time a girl was sent to have sex with a foreigner.
A tip-off from a child rights advocate group led to the arrest of Thach Mey at his home on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, the prosecutor said, adding that the judge also ordered the convicted man to pay a total of US$2,000 in compensation to the four girls.
Cambodian authorities have stepped up efforts in recent years to crack down on sex offenders trying to exploit children in Cambodia. Ethnic Vietnamese are often exploited in the Cambodian sex trade, partly because they are discriminated against as a minority.
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