Thomas Wayne Rapanos (Photo: AP)Cambodia cuts term for convicted US child molester
2008-12-05
AP
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - An American man convicted of sexually abusing two young Cambodian girls had his prison term reduced, a court official said Friday.
An Appeals Court panel cut Thomas Wayne Rapanos' prison term to one year for molesting two girls, aged 12 and 16.
Rapanos, 55, of Chicago, Illinois, was originally sentenced to 2 1/2 years by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in August.
Appeals Court judge Thou Mony said he ordered the shorter sentence during a closed-door session Thursday. He refused to comment on why he made the decision.
Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign pedophiles, and its courts have stepped up action against sex offenders in recent years.
Police arrested Rapanos in March during a raid on his guesthouse room in the capital of Phnom Penh, where they found him in the company of the girls.
An Appeals Court panel cut Thomas Wayne Rapanos' prison term to one year for molesting two girls, aged 12 and 16.
Rapanos, 55, of Chicago, Illinois, was originally sentenced to 2 1/2 years by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in August.
Appeals Court judge Thou Mony said he ordered the shorter sentence during a closed-door session Thursday. He refused to comment on why he made the decision.
Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign pedophiles, and its courts have stepped up action against sex offenders in recent years.
Police arrested Rapanos in March during a raid on his guesthouse room in the capital of Phnom Penh, where they found him in the company of the girls.
7 comments:
I can't believe this. If he did this in America, he would be sentenced to more than 10 years.
Here he is only sentenced to 2.5 years and now the sentence is reduced?
This is an outrage! I think the judge is either pro-Westerner or accepted bribe from the Americans.
This is what Ah Scam Rainxy's Human Rights is like.
Shut up! He is American, not Russian.
How do you curve the pedophiles when the Cambodian judge keep on reducing he sentence?
If cambodia really wanted to curb these acts then, it should stop it from within the country, not just by jailing foreigners. They come there because it is available and easy to get. If the cambodians had some brains and would stop supplying out of greed and ignorance then, there would be no question of this happening. Ultimately the majority of the responsibility rest on the cambodian people and government. Jailing one man, with or without evidence isnt gonna make much difference, is it?
If the government give good care or at least the necessary needs for the well-being of the people ,their kids do not have to go to beg from the foreigners. The latter have a hard time to get close to these kids.
It is intersesting that some people have only one side of the story with 'no details'.. and Others have quite a lot more 'details' and 'reasons'!!! An English Daily of Cambodia, The Phnom Penh Post has quite the more reasons given by the court for the sentence reduction. I browsed it just minutes ago on http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2008120523056/National-news/Appeals-Court-slashes-sentence-of-child-sex-offender-to-one-year.html:
====Here is the Article=====
Appeals Court slashes sentence of child sex offender to one year
Contributed by ChRann Chamroeun and Thomas Gam Nielsen
Friday, 05 December 2008
Victims' lawyers express disappointment as jail term is cut by more than half for American convicted of indecent acts with teenage girl Victims' lawyers express disappointment as jail term is cut by more than half for American convicted of indecent acts with teenage girl. THE Phnom Penh Appeals Court has slashed the jail sentence of an American national convicted in April of engaging in indecent acts with a 13-year-old Vietnamese girl, citing a lack of evidence. In a ruling Thursday, presiding Judge Thou Mony upheld the charge against Thomas Wayne Rapanos, 55, but reduced his jail term from two and a half years to one year, saying there was not enough evidence. In the same ruling, the judge also dismissed charges that Rapanos had sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old Cambodian girl.
Rapanos was arrested when police raided his room at a Phnom Penh guesthouse on March 5, where he was found with the two girls. Keo Thea, deputy police chief at the anti-trafficking and juvenile unit, told AFP after the arrest that one of the girls was naked at the time of the raid.In Thursday's appeal hearing, lawyers for the two girls wanted judges to charge Rapanos for having sex with the Cambodian girl, while Rapanos appealed to reduce the sentence handed down by the Municipal Court on April 17. The girls' lawyer, Peng Maneth, provided by the French child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), said that the one-year sentence was the lowest possible for an indecent act. "The victims are not so happy with the trial, but this is the judges' ruling," she said. APLE director Samleang Seila said the organisation has followed Rapanos' whereabouts since November 2006, adding that he was glad that the perpetrator was being sentenced, but that judges should have considered more evidence in the case - including a claim the older girl had witnessed sexual penetration. "We still congratulate the fact that he was sentenced, but we wanted the judges to consider evidence not only from the night of the arrest," he said.
The Appeals Court hearing was closed to the public to protect the underage victims' privacy after a joint request from both the lawyers of the victims and the perpetrator.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com
=====End of article======
From this few things are very clear but many want to overlook because they want people to believe what they want them to.
1) In the Municiple court verdict the US man was convicted on charges of indecent acts with a 13 year old., Not 2 girls but one. At that time Charges on the other girl were dropped.
2) The jail term from previous court was reduced because of LACK OF EVIDENCE, unlike in this post where it is mentioned that no reasons were given.
3) The court dismissed previous charges that Rapanos had intercourse with a 16 Year old girl.
So there you go!! some reasons. I guess the first step to any news is to get all the news together first!! Ciao
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