Thursday, December 12, 2013

Arrested American to first face rape charges here


Daniel Stephen Johnson is arrested by authorities at a house
 in Phnom Penh yesterday after allegations of rape in 
the United States. Courtesy Phnom Penh Post. STRINGER
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea, The Phnom Penh Post
11 December 2013

An American national arrested in Phnom Penh on Monday on rape charges filed in the US will face new charges in Cambodian courts related to his alleged sexual assault of three underage girls at an orphanage he ran, local authorities said yesterday.

Major General Pol Pithey, chief of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department of the Ministry of Interior, said suspect Daniel Stephen Johnson, 35, director of the Hope Transitions organisation, would not be extradited to the US until he had been tried in a Cambodian court and served any resulting sentence.

“Now we have found [via confession] that this American man was involved in sexually abusing children, and raped three underage Cambodian girls in Cambodia,” Pithey said. “He was also involved in establishing his Hope Transitions organisation without authorisation from the government or Ministry of Interior.

“We are still questioning him about these four cases, and we will also invite the three victims, who now are staying in his centre, to assist us with our inquiries,” he said.

The alleged victims were 13 to 15 years old.

“According to Cambodian laws, this American man now will not be sent to the United States as planned,” Pithey continued. “He must face his charges, must be convicted by a Cambodian court and serve his sentences in Cambodia first … before he is extradited to face his criminal cases in his own country.”

Johnson is slated to be sent to court for official charges by the end of the week, Pithey added.

According to a senior police official at the Ministry of Interior, who asked not to be named, a US Federal Bureau of Investigation report given to the National Police said Johnson is wanted in the US in connection with five different cases of underage rape, and was laying low in Cambodia.

The US embassy declined to comment on the case yesterday, saying it is generally the policy of the FBI office in Cambodia not to comment on ongoing investigations.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STUART WHITE

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We should have our own welfare group to work in our orphanage organisation, and in making sure that all of our children are being protected. We need to promote our service by our people for our organisation, not the organisation that run by other foreigners whatsoever. Donated goods or fundings must fall into our khmers' workers and children's hands, not the hand of the outsiders.

Please be smarter, do not let foreigners run our country and nation, because no nation would want us to growth but to fall apart except genuine humanitarian workers like christain group, they want nothing but to help and pray for what is best for all of us, other than that, they are using our poor people to exploit for their national interests, e.g advertising our poor country and nation to collecti more donations but only for their national interest only.

Generally, they are very good at lying, decieving and manipulation. Please trust no one, except one of our own who has the ability to oversee it all for the benefit of our national interest, known as the 'compatriots'. Because all compatriots will go to heaven whereas all thieves will be in hell e.g they shall not lie, steal or kill...treat others like you want to be treated.

But not everyone wants to follow god's way of life because 'the road to heaven is very narrow and is hard to go through but the road to hell is easy and wide'. For god is right and just 'no one in this world can get away from any injustice that they have committed'. So, god has sent fire, cyclone, flood (tsunami), earth quake to destroy such evil group kind of people.

Therefore, no matter how wicked they are trying to perform, they can not out run god's way of life. So might as well do good and good will come to you seven times the amount, plus in the end, the truth will always be revealed in the end anyway, so why hide in the first place?

Anonymous said...

7:51am
It does not matter who run the show, our people or not ouf people, if the person is bad, the results will be bad. It depends on the person.
Ouf Khmers this day are more doing evil than doing good.