DNA links rapist, Pov Srun to earlier assault

Pov Srun

One victim was snatched from lot at Waynesboro Mall

Jun 16, 2011
By Staff reports
The Record Herald (Pennsylvania, USA)

Waynesboro, Pa. — A man convicted of mid-2000s rapes in Pennsylvania and Maryland has been indicted by a grand jury in connection with a 1998 sexual assault in Washington County, Md.

Pov Srun, 40, a native of Cambodia and formerly of Hagerstown, was indicted on charges of first- and second-degree rape, kidnapping, first- and second-degree sex offenses, unlawful restraint and second-degree assault.

DNA found on clothing in the Dec. 8, 1998, rape matches Srun’s, according to documents filed in the case.

Cambodian court delays verdict in New Zealander's appeal

Wed, 04 Jul 2007
DPA

Phnom Penh - The Cambodian Appeal Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on an appeal by a New Zealand national convicted of rape in the man's ninth attempt to have the appeal heard. Graham Robert Cleghorn, 59, was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison by Siem Reap Provincial Court in 2004 for the rape of five of his female staff.

Judge Thou Mony Wednesday conducted a closed hearing with Cleghorn and three of the five women who brought the original complaints in attendance, as well as representatives from the non-governmental organizations which supported them through the legal process, and New Zealand embassy officials who had flown in from Bangkok.

No witnesses for Cleghorn appeared. The court did not give a reason for that exclusion.

Judge Mony adjourned the hearing after about three hours of testimony and reserved his judgement until July 10.

Since his arrest, Cleghorn has maintained he has been framed by powerful interests who want his valuable land on the edge of the Angkor Wat temple complex in the northern tourist hub of Siem Reap.

Shortly before the court was closed to the public Wednesday, Cleghorn reiterated his allegations to the new appeal judge Mony and claimed a local women's group, the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center (CWCC), had incited local women to come forward and make claims against him with promises of financial gain.

The CWCC has consistently denied the charges, calling them ridiculous. CWCC founder Oung Chanthol was awarded an honour for her work by the US embassy in Phnom Penh before resigning earlier this year, citing fatigue.

Kiwi’s Cambodian Appeal Went Well: Lawyer

05 Jul 2007
Newswire.co.nz (New Zealand)

The lawyer for a New Zealand man convicted of sex charges in Cambodia says his latest appeal hearing went well and they presented a good case.

Graham Cleghorn was convicted in 2004 of raping five women who worked for him, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Yesterday, a Cambodia court heard Cleghorn's appeal in private, after a previous appeal was abandoned when witnesses were not summoned.

Cleghorn's Cambodian lawyer, Ry Ourky, says three out of the five complainants were cross-examined.

A decision on the appeal will be made next week.

Lawyers for NZ rapist [Cleghorn] hoping for smooth appeal hearing

Wednesday, 4 July 2007
NZPA (New Zealand)

Lawyers for convicted New Zealand rapist Graham Cleghorn hope witnesses will show up at an appeal hearing in Cambodia today to avert yet another trial postponement.

Cleghorn, 60, formerly from Wellington, was sentenced in 2004 to 20 years in prison for raping five young women in Siem Reap, 314km northwest of Phnom Penh.

He has maintained his innocence but over the past couple of years appeal attempts have been postponed while allegations of lies and corruption have been passed between victims and Cleghorn supporters.

The last appeal hearing was due to take place more than five months ago.

The absence of witnesses from past hearings has been blamed for delays and one of Cleghorn's Cambodian lawyer's, Ry Ouk, said he hoped that wouldn't be the case today.

"I can't make an assumption, but if all the critical people are not there then it could be delayed," he told Radio New Zealand.

He said speculation that the Cleghorn team needed to pay money to the court before the hearing was not true.

Speculation that he had been bribed to quit working for Cleghorn was "ludicrous", he said.

Leam Suy, the mother of one teenage rape complainant, said months ago the delays were draining her family's resources and sowing confusion among the victims and their supporters.

"Even though the delays have happened again and again we will continue to come to the court. We will come until a judge says in front of all of us what's wrong and what's right," she said.

Cleghorn supporters have said in the past the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre bribed the girls to make the rape complaints.

Mr Ouk said Cleghorn appeared to be fit and well in jail and that the case due to be heard today was strong.