Thursday, March 06, 2008

US Hari Krishna leader accused of pedophilia in Cambodia

Mar 6, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - The president of a Hari Krishna-affiliated aid organization has been arrested in a guesthouse, allegedly in the company of two young girls in a state of undress, an anti-trafficking police chief said Thursday.

US national Thomas Rapanos Wayne, alias Tattva Darshan Das, whose age was not given, president of the non-government organization Bhaktivedanta Eco Village (BEV) Cambodia, was allegedly arrested in a Phnom Penh guesthouse in the company of two girls aged 12 and 16.

The age of consent in Cambodia is 15.

Phnom Penh Municipal anti-trafficking police chief Eim Rathana said Wayne was arrested Wednesday and investigations were continuing.

'The American has denied the charges, and we must continue to investigate,' Rathana said by telephone.

BEV registered in Cambodia as an aid organization focusing on agricultural assistance, education and child care in 2006.

An anti-trafficking group which said it assisted in arresting Wayne, Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), said by email Thursday that the alleged victims had been cooperating with the investigation.

Rathana said Wayne had yet to be charged Thursday evening.

The relatively obscure branch of his BEV organization in Cambodia claims to assist 'little children and even university students aspiring to learn,' according to its website.

Cambodian authorities have arrested dozens of foreign pedophiles in recent years, often with the help on non-government organizations such as APLE, in an effort to shake off its reputation as a haven for child molesters.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pourk Ah Baraing Alout!!
Come to our country and did such a vulgar thing.
U have sin!!!!

Anonymous said...

They are there to take advantage of our poor children. The government must step up its work to protect our children from getting hurt for the rest of their lives. We must draw contrast between our country and Thailand that we are not the country for sex especially those who work with mimors.

Anonymous said...

White dogs are nice on the outside but very dirty and evil in the inside.

Anonymous said...

Well, when a country has excessive freedom of expression, there will be some victim of that.

The sad part is we are effected by what they are doing in the US. It is just unfair!

Anonymous said...

According to Cambodian law is it not that within 48 hours there should be a hearing. No further news. Is it that the police don't have evidence? Sceptical about scams!! In the Judicial system and organizational politics. Hoping to see the advancement of this case

I found this :Criminal Law of Cambodia (Click here)

KRAM DATED FEBRUARY 8, 1993
ON CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Article 38.

The officers of the judiciary police
1>receive denunciations complaints as well as judiciary police reports relating to crimes, misdemeanors and minor offenses.
2>gather evidences
3>can request the assistance of the public force.
4>make reports.
5>may accept rogatory commission.
6>may decide the detention for a maximum of 48 hours.
In cases of crimes or misdemeanors caught red-handed in the acts, the judiciary police may interrogate witnesses, search and confiscate the object produced in evidence, assign experts, decide to detain offenders for 48 hours.


Article 47.

The officers of the judiciary police have the right to offenders only in cases of crimes or misdemeanors caught red-handed in the act. They shall bring the alleged offenders to the competent jurisdiction within 48 hours without counting necessary transportation time by the quickest transportation means possible.

In case of non-compliance with this strict rule, the offices shall be punished in accordance with articles 22 and 57 of the interim penal code.


---What happened here?.. Is an innocent man being accused?.. Doesn't anyone want to know?

Anonymous said...

check ECTOPIA.ORG for some interesting stuff to put light on this matter