DPA
Phnom Penh - A Swiss national has been jailed for two years by a Cambodian court for committing indecent acts against a 14-year-old boy, local media reported Friday.
Rudolph Knuchel, 62, a long-time resident of the tourist hub of Siem Reap in north-western Cambodia, was also ordered to pay a fine of 1,200 US dollars to the victim.
The judge suspended one year of Knuchel's two-year sentence, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported, and ruled he would not be expelled from the country after serving time.
A lawyer with a local child protection NGO complained the court had unjustifiably pursued a lesser charge against Knuchel of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor.
Peng Maneth, a lawyer for Action Pour Les Enfants, told the paper the court should have pursued the original charge of sexual intercourse with a minor, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
"It is unacceptable for the court to change from the original charge," she said.
In a separate case, a Dutch national who set up an educational programme for children in the southern tourist town of Sihanoukville has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography, engaging in indecent acts against minors, and purchasing child prostitution.
Suon Sophan, the deputy chief of the provincial human trafficking bureau, told the newspaper that the 65-year-old Dutch male was questioned Thursday on charges that he sexually abused 10 underage boys.
Cambodia has long struggled to rid itself of its reputation as a place where foreign nationals can engage in underage sex. In recent years the authorities have moved to tackle the problem with a string of foreign nationals jailed.
Rudolph Knuchel, 62, a long-time resident of the tourist hub of Siem Reap in north-western Cambodia, was also ordered to pay a fine of 1,200 US dollars to the victim.
The judge suspended one year of Knuchel's two-year sentence, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported, and ruled he would not be expelled from the country after serving time.
A lawyer with a local child protection NGO complained the court had unjustifiably pursued a lesser charge against Knuchel of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor.
Peng Maneth, a lawyer for Action Pour Les Enfants, told the paper the court should have pursued the original charge of sexual intercourse with a minor, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
"It is unacceptable for the court to change from the original charge," she said.
In a separate case, a Dutch national who set up an educational programme for children in the southern tourist town of Sihanoukville has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography, engaging in indecent acts against minors, and purchasing child prostitution.
Suon Sophan, the deputy chief of the provincial human trafficking bureau, told the newspaper that the 65-year-old Dutch male was questioned Thursday on charges that he sexually abused 10 underage boys.
Cambodia has long struggled to rid itself of its reputation as a place where foreign nationals can engage in underage sex. In recent years the authorities have moved to tackle the problem with a string of foreign nationals jailed.
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