Disgraced pedophile finally booted out

Russian pedophile Alexander Trofimov (left) rides a jet ski with two unidentified females near Sihanoukville in this undated photograph. Photograph: supplied

Friday, 22 June 2012
Sokha Hotel
The Phnom Penh Post

If all went according to plan last night, Russian pedophile Alexander Trofimov is finally another country’s problem.

Authorities were to put the convicted sex offender on a South Korea-bound flight late yesterday evening, booting him out from the Kingdom and ending months of speculation and outrage that followed his December pardon.

“Wherever he goes from Seoul is up to him,” Chhay Sinarith, director of the Internal Security Department at the Ministry of Interior, said.

Why Trofimov, also known as Stanislav Molodyakov, was sent to South Korea instead of Russia, where he holds citizenship and is also wanted on sexual abuse charges, was not clear.

Cambodia Expels Russian Pedophile

Alexander Trofimov seen with young girls in Cambodia

Pardoned by the king, the Russian businessman was later found living with an underage girl.

2012-06-21

Radio Free Asia

Cambodian authorities moved Thursday night to deport a Russian businessman convicted of sexually abusing more than a dozen Cambodian girls and later pardoned by the country’s king.

Alexander Trofimov, also known as Stanislav Molodyakov, was scheduled to be put on a plane at 11:00 p.m. Cambodia time and deported to Russia, where he is wanted on additional charges of rape.

Speaking to RFA, Cambodian Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that the Russian embassy in Cambodia had completed their share of the paperwork related to Trofimov’s return to Russia.

“They already confirmed that they have the paperwork,” he said.

“The documents show that [Trofimov] will be deported to Russia and will not be allowed to return.”

Cambodia to Deport Russian Pedophile [-Sihamoni pardons a pedophile, but ignores the innocent BKL-15!!!]

Alexander Trofimov smokes a cigarette after his verdict at the Phnom Penh municipal court, March 14, 2008. (AFP)

Authorities will expel the former businessman who was pardoned last year by the King of Cambodia.

2012-06-06

Radio Free Asia

Cambodian authorities are working with Moscow to deport a notorious Russian pedophile arrested this week with an underage girl just months after he was pardoned by King Norodom Sihamoni following his conviction of sexually abusing more than a dozen Cambodian girls.

“Alexander Trofimov is being detained temporarily under our authority. The Ministry of the Interior has decided to expel him,” Minister of the Interior Khieu Sopheak said, amid talks between Cambodian officials and the Russian Embassy.

Trofimov was arrested in 2007 in Cambodia's largest-ever pedophilia case. He was convicted of buying sex from 17 girls between the ages of six and 13 and sentenced to 17 years in prison, but later had his sentence reduced to eight years by an appeals court.

In December last year he was pardoned through a royal decree following a government request made to the king through Cambodia’s council of ministers and released from jail.

Cambodia 'to deport' Russian pedophile [-About time!]

Trofimov with a young girl (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Tue Jun 5 2012
AAP

A Russian pedophile controversially pardoned in Cambodia's largest-known child sex scandal will be deported after he was arrested at the home of a teenage girl.

Alexander Trofimov, who built a $US300 million ($A309.71 million) tourist resort in the country, was arrested at the house of an underaged girl outside of Phnom Penh, police spokesman Kirt Chantharith told AFP, adding authorities will try to deport him shortly.

"Police arrested him (on Monday) ... while he was hiding with a local family," Chantharith said, adding that the Russian "loved the family's daughter, who is 11 or 12 years old".

"According to policy, we will have to expel him very soon."

Banana Kingdoom: Serial pedophile pardoned by the king ... while nationalists are sentenced to jail without hope of pardon

Serial paedophile Alexander Trofimov, former chairman of the Koh Pous Investment Company, is escorted by a prison security official after a hearing at the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh in June 2010. He is now free in Cambodia, following a pardon. (Reuters)

Snake Island paedophile set free in Sihanoukville

Wednesday, 21 December 2011
May Titthara and Vincent MacIsaac
The Phnom Penh Post

Serial paedophile and mega-resort investor Alexander Trofimov walked free from Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison on Tuesday after serving slightly more than half of his previously reduced sentence for sex crimes against 17 underage girls, the prison’s director said yesterday.

Pich Veasna said that Trofimov was released on Tuesday following a Royal pardon. “We requested to King Norodom Sihamoni to pardon him because he had corrected himself during the time he served in prison,” Pich Veasna told the Post.

The former chairman of Russian-led Koh Pous (Snake Island) Investment Company was first accused in 2007 of purchasing sex from six girls between six and 16 years of age. After the first set of charges, 13 more girls – including one who was deaf – accused the now 45-year-old Russian businessman of sexually abusing them. He was convicted of sex crimes against 17 of them.

Cambodia pardons Russian convicted of sex charges [-But why????]

Alexander Trofimov

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A prison official says a Russian businessman convicted of sexually abusing more than a dozen girls in Cambodia has walked free after being granted a royal pardon.

Preah Sihanouk Prison director Pich Veasna says 45-year-old Alexander Trofimov was one of 360 prisoners granted amnesty by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni. Trofimov had been convicted of buying sex from 17 girls between the ages of six and 13.

Before his arrest in October 2007 Trofimov was chairman of a Russian-led investment group developing a Cambodian tourist island.

Russian paedophile handed extra prison time in retrial hearing

Alexander Trofimov shown here in a file photo received an additional 11 years. Photo by: AFP

Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Written by Cheang Sokha The Phnom Penh Post

Convicted offender sentenced to additional 11 years on child sex charges, but observers say punishment is too lenient in light of crime.

PREAH Sihanouk provincial court has added 11 years to the prison sentence of twice-convicted paedophile Alexander Trofimov after handing down guilty verdicts on one retrial case and one new case against the Russian businessman Tuesday.

Saing Vannak, Trofimov's defence lawyer, told the Post that the court found his client guilty on counts of purchasing sex with a minor - which carries a penalty of eight years - and for indecent acts with a further 17 underage girls, which added an extra three years Trofimov's term.

"I could not accept it. I will file an appeal against the court's decision. Based on the law my client should be free," he said after the hearing, which was in session for most of Tuesday. "There are no grounds to punish my client."

Serial offender

The 41-year-old former chairman of the Koh Puos Investment Group, who was arrested in 2007, previously stood trial in March 2008 at Phnom Penh Municipal Court and was sentenced to 13 years on paedophilia-related charges, but his prison term was slashed to seven years by the Appeal Court in October.

On November 27, Sihanouk ville provincial court again sentenced Trofimov to eight years imprisonment in a case involving sex with a young girl, but the verdict was rejected by Trofimov who claimed he was absent during the trial and demanded a retrial.

Samleang Seila, director of anti-paedophile NGO Action Pours Les Enfants, expressed his disappointment with the court's decision, saying the sentence was considerably light given the number of offences committed by Trofimov.

"It is unbelievable that the court has punished the largest-ever paedophile in Cambodia so lightly," he said. "There is no balance between the punishment and the acts of the perpetrator."

After years of being seen as a haven for sexual predators, the government began a campaign to clean up the Kingdom's image in 2003, arresting paedophiles and other sex offenders including dozens of foreigners.

Bith Kimhong, director of the Ministry of Interior's Department of Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection, said that Preah Sihanouk provincial court should have punished Trofimov with at least 10 years in prison for puchasing sex with a minor.

"From my point of view the punishment of Trofimov was a little bit light," he said.

Bith Kimhong said his department had arrested eight foreigners for underage sex-related offences in 2008.

Cambodia sentences Russian pedophile to 8 years in 2nd trial

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Sihanoukville Municipal Court has handed down a second child-sex conviction to Russian businessman Alexander Trofimov for soliciting sex with an underage girl, sentencing him to an additional eight years in jail, state media reported Friday.

The 41-year-old former chairman of Koh Puos Investment Group, who is already serving six years for sexual assault in Cambodia's largest-ever pedophilia case, appeared in court for sentencing after missing the first two days of his trial, his lawyer, Saing Vannak, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

He added that he was unsure whether Trofimov would appeal the ruling.

"I will talk to my client about whether to appeal," he told the Post after the sentence was handed down.

Trofimov was convicted on one of two counts of purchasing sex from a minor, brought by a single victim.

The second count involving 17 victims is still under investigation, with a verdict expected later, said Teng Maneth, a legal officer at the anti-pedophile NGO Action Pour les Enfants.

This week's trial was the third attempt to get Trofimov into court after a lack of lawyer delayed earlier trials.

Trofimov was arrested in 2007 and first stood trial in March of this year on charges of abusing a 13-year-old girl.

He was sentenced to 13 years, but his prison term was slashed to seven years by the Appeals Court in October.

Pedophilia: Trofimov’s affair saga

Alexander Trofimov (Photo: AP)

28 Nov 2008
By Im Navin
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Click here to read the article in French

A Russian citizen who was sentenced for pedophilia in 2007, dragged in his wake three Cambodian middlemen.

In its verdict handed down on Thursday 27 November, the Sihanoukville tribunal found guilty three Cambodian women for acting as middleman between Trofimov and the children. According to My Chan Veasna, an investigator for the Protection of Juvenile Justice (PJJ) NGO who is based in Shanoukville and who is knowledgeable in this case, the suspects were charged according to Article 34 for prostitution of minors, which is part of the anti-human trafficking law. The court session lasted 3 days, between 25 and 27 November. Thirteen children were heard by the court as witnesses in the case, all were victims of pedophilia.

Alexander Trofimov who was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to 13 years of jail time, saw his sentence reduced to six years following his appeal.

Russian businessman on trial for paedophilia in Cambodia

Tue, 25 Nov 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - The trial of a Russian businessman charged with sexually abusing 18 underage girls began Tuesday after a series of delays in getting legal representation for the defendant, national media reported Tuesday. Alexander Trofimov, 41, was arrested in 2007 on charges of abusing the girls while working in the coastal town of Sihanoukville, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

Trofimov, was convicted in March this year of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and is currently serving a 13-year sentence in a Phnom Penh prison.

If convicted of the remaining charges, Trofimov could face a further seven to 15 years in prison, the newspaper reported.

The former chairman of Koh Pous Investment Group, which has a 300-million-dollar property development in Sihanoukville, previously complained he was unable to secure legal representation for the trial.

Trofimov has since hired a lawyer, but a local judge on Monday ordered the trial to begin even if the lawyer did not attend.

Largest pedophile case of Cambodia stalls again

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Child protection NGO has blasted the Sihanoukville Municipal Court for once again postponing the largest pedophile trial in the country's history, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily said Tuesday.

Alexander Trofimov, 41-year-old executive director of the Koh Puos Investment Group, was supposed to face charge Monday of abusing 11 girls younger than 15 and seven girls aged between 15 and 17, but his hearing was postponed once again because he still doesn't have a lawyer.

Trofimov was originally set to appear before the court on Sept.23, but the trial was delayed after his lawyer quit because of sore throat. Judge Taing Sunlay told Trofimov to have another lawyer Monday or the court would appoint him one.

"This postponement shows that the judge has limited abilities," said Ket Chanto, member of international NGO World Vision, which takes care of the victims.

"Judges always use excuses to change cases. Even though we know the excuses are invalid, we can do nothing," he added.

Trofimov is currently being held in pre-trial detention at Sihanoukville municipal prison. The businessman once established his company to develop an isolated island in Sihanoukville into a comprehensive resort.

Tycoon Gets 13 Years on Debauchery

Alexander Trofimov a Russian national sits outside a courtroom in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 14, 2008. A Cambodian court sentenced Trofimov to 13 years in jail Friday for sexually abusing an under-aged girl, making him the second foreigner convicted of such a crime this week. (AP Photo)

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 March 2008

Russian investor Alexander Trofimov was handed a 13-year jail sentence Friday on a conviction of abusing a 14-year-old girl in the beach resort town of Sihanoukville.

Trofimov, 41, had been an influential investor on the coast and was leading a $300-million development on Snake Island until his arrest in October 2007.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court ruled Friday on a case heard earlier this week, finding Trofimov guilty of debauchery, in one of several cases Trofimov now faces for sex acts with young girls.

Cambodian Phal Vannara received an 11-year jail term for his role in procuring the girl for Trofimov.

"There is enough evidence to prove his guilt," said Municipal Judge Ke Sokhan, who presided over a three-judge panel in the case.

The crime affected the security, culture, dignity, honor and health of humankind, Ke Sokhan said.

"I'm very happy for the municipal verdict," said the victim, who had requested that her hearing be made public.

The court, which has mandated one month for appeal, ordered the two to pay $100,000 in compensation to the victim.

"The court decision is unjust for my client, because there is not enough evidence against him," said Ouch Sophal, Trofimov's lawyer. "I still defend my client; he is not guilty at all."

Russian investor gets 13 yrs for Cambodia abuse

Alexander Trofimov (L) is escorted by Prey Sar prison's police after his hearing at Phnom Penh municipal court March 11, 20008. The court charged Trofimov, a Russian businessman who is overseeing a $300 million tourism investment project with sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl. Trofimov denied the charge and said he had never met the girl, who testified that she had been paid $100 after being abused four times. (REUTERS/Stringer)

March 13, 2008

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian court sentenced a prominent Russian investor to 13 years in jail on Friday for the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl, the latest foreigner to be caught in the country's drive to stop child sex tourism.

The lawyer for 41-year-old Alexander Trofimov, who signed a $300 million deal in 2006 to develop a luxury tourist resort, said the ruling would damage Cambodia's investment reputation.

"My client is a high-profile man. He should not be sentenced by just one girl who pointed a finger at him," lawyer Ouch Sophal told Reuters.

"The court decision will send a bad message to foreign investors," he said, adding his client would appeal.

Chief Judge Ke Sakhan said the court had sufficient evidence to convict Trofimov, who did not speak to reporters in court.

A Cambodian man was also sentenced to 11 years in jail for providing the girl to the Russian businessman.

Poverty-stricken Cambodia has long had a reputation as a haven for pedophiles, due in large part to its corrupt police force and courts. Child rights groups are campaigning hard for Phnom Penh to take the problem seriously.

(Reporting by Ek Madra; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Alex Richardson)

Russian accused of abusing Cambodian girls awaits court’s verdict

March 14, 2008
Russia Today

A court in Cambodia is to pronounce its verdict in the case of a Russian businessman accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old.

Aleksandr Trofimov was arrested last year on suspicion that he had abused as many as nineteen underage girls. The 41-year-old man denies the charges.

If convicted, he could face between ten and twenty years in prison.

Trofimov has been living in Cambodia for three years. His company received government permission to develop an island into a tourist resort.

Pedophile Case Opens Against Beach Tycoon

Alexander Trofimov (L) is escorted by Prey Sar prison's police after his hearing at Phnom Penh municipal court March 11, 20008. The court charged Trofimov, a Russian businessman who is overseeing a $300 million tourism investment project with sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl. Trofimov denied the charge and said he had never met the girl, who testified that she had been paid $100 after being abused four times. REUTERS/Stringer

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
11 March 2008

Phnom Penh Municipal Court said Tuesday it will rule Friday on whether Russian business tycoon Alexander Trofimov is guilty of debauchery, as one of Cambodia's widest-sweeping pedophile trials opened.

Trofimov, 41, denied one charge of debauchery in Phnom Penh court, where he is accused of paying for sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl. He faces similar accusations from a number of other alleged victims in Sihanoukville, where he was leading the $300-million development of Snake Island, off the southwest coast.

Trofimov said in a public hearing that lasted six hours that he was innocent of the debauchery charge, and he denied knowing the alleged victim or paying for sexual acts with her.

The girl told the court that Trofimov had four sexual encounters with her at his house in Sihanoukville.

Prosecutor Sok Kalyan said at the close of the hearing Trofimov was guilty and should pay $200,000 in compensation for the girl.

Trofimov's lawyer, Ouch Sophal, called for a re-investigation of the case, saying the evidence was not clear.

Cambodia's anti-trafficking law provides for 10 to 20 years in prison for debauchery charges.

Russian man denies child sex abuse charge during trial in Cambodia

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Russian businessman accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in Cambodia denied the charge Tuesday, despite the child's testimony that he paid her for sex last year.

Alexander Trofimov, 41, is accused of debauchery. If convicted of the child sex offense, Trofimov could face from 10 to 20 years in prison.

Police arrested Trofimov in the coastal city of Sihanoukville in October on suspicion he had sexually abused up to 19 Cambodian girls since 2005. Tuesday's trial, held in the capital, Phnom Penh, considered only one of those allegations.

Judge Ke Sakhan said he would announce a verdict Friday.

The teenage girl testified that she and Trofimov had sex in September last year. She said she received $100 out of $1,000 that Trofimov paid to a broker to bring the girl to him.

Trofimov, who has lived in Cambodia for more than three years, denied the charge.

"I have never seen her or committed any sex acts with her," Trofimov told the court. He urged the court to release him.

Phal Vannara, a 34-year-old Cambodian man, is charged with conspiracy in the sexual abuse for his alleged role as the broker. He is being tried alongside Trofimov.

Trofimov runs a company that in late 2006 received permission from the Cambodian government to develop Koh Puos, or Snake Island, into a tourist resort.

19 girls accuse Russian of abuse in Cambodia's biggest pedophilia case [-KPIG's Trofimov in deeper trouble]

Friday, November 16, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Nineteen girls have claimed they were sexually abused by a Russian businessman who was arrested in Cambodia last month — the largest number of Cambodian children to allege abuse by one person in a pedophilia case, police said.

Alexander Trofimov, 41, the chairman of Koh Puos Investment Group Ltd., was detained in the southern resort town of Sihanoukville and accused of raping at least six girls. He was charged Oct. 17 with debauchery — a Cambodian legal term for sexual abuse of children.

Investigations since his arrest indicate he may have abused as many as 19 girls, said police Maj. Gen. Bit Kimhong.

"This is a first," Bit Kimhong said, noting that most pedophile cases in Cambodia involve the abuse of up to three victims. "Never has there ever been anything like this."

The victims are now aged between 11 and 18 but were younger at the time of the alleged abuse, said Samleang Seila, director of child advocacy group Action Pour Les Enfants, which has been investigating Trofimov since 2005. It was not immediately clear if all the girls were under 15 — the age of consent — when the alleged abuse occurred.

If convicted of debauchery, Trofimov could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for each offense.

Three Cambodians were also arrested and charged with conspiring to commit debauchery and trafficking girls for the Russian, said Bit Khimong, who is head of the Interior Ministry's anti-human trafficking department. Trafficking of girls under 15 for sexual purposes is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

At least two of the alleged victims were sold to the Russian by their parents, said Samleang Seila.

Poverty and weak law enforcement make Cambodia a preferred destination for foreigners seeking to prey on children, although local police say they have stepped up efforts against pedophiles.

In September last year, the Cambodian government gave Trofimov's company permission to develop an island near Sihanoukville into a tourist resort with an initial investment of up to US$300 million.

Koh Puos, or Snake Island, is located about 800 meters (a half-mile) off Sihanoukville, which is about 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh.