Graham Cleghorn

Kiwi 'expects guilty verdict' in Cambodia

Friday Nov 26, 2010
NZPA

New Zealander Graham Cleghorn - serving a 20-year prison sentence in Cambodia for rape - says he expects to be found guilty in the defamation case against him today.

"I'm going to stand up there and they're going to say `you're guilty, here's the sentence'," he told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

"Find me a case where a foreigner has been found innocent in Cambodia."

Cleghorn, 62, was sentenced by Siem Reap provincial court in 2004 to 20 years' prison for the rape of five girls aged between 14 and 19.

He is due to attend a verdict hearing late today (NZT) in the defamation case bought against him by the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre (CWCC), which accused him of telling media outlets that the non-government organisation offered to pay each victim US$10,000 ($13,160) each to testify against him.

In a hearing last Monday, Mea Sophea, the lawyer representing the CWCC in Siem Reap, requested that the court demand Cleghorn pay US$5000 in compensation.

But in an interview with the Post at Prey Sar prison this week, Cleghorn, repeated previous statements that the case should never have made it to court.

"Apparently I'm not allowed to tell you that those people [the CWCC] are thieves and liars and set me up, because that's defamation now," he says.

"Any information I gave to the court [in prior hearings] is privileged information and can't be used against me in a defamation case."

But CWCC representative Say Vathany called the bribery claims "groundless".

"His defamation against CWCC is intended to discredit CWCC in a desperate attempt to influence a more favourable verdict for his case in the Supreme Court."

During the hearing last week, Siem Reap-based CWCC manager Ket Noeun said the defamation complaint stemmed from Cleghorn's repeated statements through the press.

Cleghorn has never denied making the claims in court, but denies making the claims in interviews to the press.

Cleghorn faces an extra two years in prison for each victim that he refuses to pay US$2000 in compensation to in relation to his rape conviction. He has said the money will go unpaid.

"I don't give a f... what they do," he said.

"I am what I am, and I am not going to pay these girls for lying. At least I can look in the mirror every morning and like what I see."

When asked if he would pay any compensation if he was found guilty of defamation, he grinned and said: "What do you think?"

NZ rapist facing new charges in Cambodia

Graham Robert Cleghorn

Friday Oct 15, 2010
NZPA

A New Zealander jailed in 2004 for raping five teenage Cambodian girls between the ages of 14 and 19 is now facing new charges of defamation and disinformation filed by a charity group which looks after vulnerable women and children.

Graham Cleghorn, 62, is serving a 20-year sentence for raping the girls, but has claimed that he was set up, and that the charity, the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre (CWCC), paid the five girls US$10,000 ($13,198.94) each to testify against him.

The girls were employed at his Siem Reap home, near the Angkor Wat temple in northern Cambodia.

Cleghorn represented himself at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to the new charges, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

He claimed to have evidence - a letter from a girl stating that a CWCC official had asked her to testify against him in exchange for $10,000 - but said the letter and other documents he would like to present were being stored at the Supreme Court in Phnom Penh.

He requested time to get the documents and contact the New Zealand embassy to help him find a lawyer.

Judge Din Sivuthy agreed and set his next appearance for November 15.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said Cleghorn was last visited by New Zealand Embassy staff from Bangkok on October 4.

Cleghorn, 62, is being held in Prey Sar prison, just out of Phnom Penh, since his conviction, which was upheld in 2007 by the Cambodian Court of Appeal.

Last month, another New Zealand man, Michael John Lines, 53, who also has Australian citizenship, stood trial in Cambodia for sexually abusing young girls.

Judge Duch Kimsan of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said he would give a verdict in the near future, but did not specify when.

Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign paedophiles because of poverty and poor law enforcement, but in recent years police and courts have increasingly targeted sex offenders.

New Zealand man goes on trial in Cambodia over sex with underage girls

Friday, September 24, 2010
WikiNews.org

A man from New Zealand has gone on trial in Cambodia over alleged sex with two young girls. 53-year-old Michael John Lines was arrested in the province of Preah SihanoukA man from New Zealand has gone on trial in Cambodia over alleged sex with two young girls. 53-year-old Michael John Lines was arrested at a hotel in the province of Preah Sihanouk in March. Lines holds dual citizenship from New Zealand and Australia.

The trial took place behind closed doors and lasted a day. Lines was tried for charges of procuring a child for prostitution. Judge Duch Kimsan said that he announce his decision in the short future.

In the past few years Cambodian police and courts have began to crack down on foriegn pedophiles. Many travel to Cambodia seeking sex with young girls in poor areas.

Kiwi on trial for abusing girls in Cambodia

Wednesday September 22, 2010
Source: Newstalk ZB/ONE News

A 53-year-old New Zealand man has gone on trial in Cambodia for sexually abusing young girls.

Michael John Lines, who also has Australian citizenship, faces charges of procuring a child for prostitution.

He was arrested in March at a hotel in the coastal province of Preah Sihanouk.

Police accused him of having sex with two underage girls.

The closed door trial was adjourned after a day, and the judge said he would give a verdict in the near future.

Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign paedophiles because of poverty and poor law enforcement, however in recent years police and courts have increasingly targeted sex offenders.

New Zealander convicted of Cambodian sex crimes gets sentence reduced

2008-07-01

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - A New Zealand man convicted of molesting Cambodian boys has had his sentence cut from ten to six years in prison.

Saly Theara, a judge at the Appeals Court, said Tuesday the sentence of Malcolm Anthony Hatfield, 62, was reduced because the crime which he committed had been redefined under Cambodian law and now had a lesser penalty.

Hatfield, who was convicted of the sexual assaults in 2004, made his appeal to the court last week, claiming he was innocent and had been framed by a child rights group, Action Pour Les Enfants.

Van Phal Na, a defense lawyer for Hatfield, called Tuesday's ruling an injustice and said he will consult with his client on what to do next.

Lax law enforcement and poverty have made Cambodia a prime destination for foreigners seeking sex with minors, though police have recently stepped up efforts to fight the crime.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court had sentenced Hatfield to 10 years in prison on debauchery charges for molesting four Cambodian boys aged 12-14.

Pedophile offenses had previously been prosecuted under a vague law. But a recently introduced statute specifically covers sexual and indecent acts against minors, and the judge ordered Hatfield's sentence modified to reflect that.

Hatfield had been teaching English in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, when he was arrested, according to the state prosecutor's office. His passport said he was born in the city of Auckland.