Cambodian police arrest British man on child sex charges

Wed, 29 Jul 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - A British man accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl has been arrested in the Cambodian coastal resort town of Sihanoukville, police said Wednesday. Gareth Ashley Corbett, 51, was taken into custody Tuesday by Phnom Penh police, said Keo Thea, Phnom Penh anti-trafficking police chief.

The arrest was reportedly made after an investigation into complaints by two girls that last week led to the arrest of US national Scott Alan Hecker, 41, in Phnom Penh.

Dozens of foreigners have been jailed since Cambodia launched a crackdown on child sex crimes in 2003.

Briton held for abusing girl

July 29, 2009
AFP

PHNOM PENH - A BRITISH man became the latest suspect in Cambodia's drive to net foreign paedophiles after he was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl, police said on Wednesday.

Gareth Ashley Corbett, 51, was arrested at his rented house in the popular seaside town of Sihanoukville on Tuesday, said Suon Sophan, deputy chief of the local anti-trafficking and juvenile police unit.

The arrest of Corbett was made after the underage girl, who was also allegedly abused by a US man, told authorities that the Briton had sex with her, he said.

'The arrest of the Briton was the result of testimony of the girl to police,' Suon Sophan told AFP by telephone.

The US man, Scott Alan Hecker, 44, was nabbed last week in a raid on a hotel in Phnom Penh and has been accused of committing indecent acts repeatedly against the girl and and another 14-year-old girl.

Cambodia has struggled to shed its reputation as a haven for paedophiles, putting dozens of foreigners in jail for child sex crimes or deporting them to face trial in their home countries since 2003.