An elderly Swiss national has been given a two-year jail term, with 14 months suspended, for performing indec-ent acts with four minors.

The Preah Sihanouk provincial court yesterday sentenced  Hugo Leuthold,  80, to jail time after finding him guilty of acts with the young boys.

Leuthold, a pensioner, was arrested on Christmas Eve last year in the coastal province.

He would be deported after serving the jail term, Peng Manet, a lawyer from the anti-paedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants who was rep-resenting the victims, said.

She said provincial judge Hang Sitha had also ordered Leuthold to pay one million riel (about US$250) in compensation to each boy.

“The judge also ordered the deportation of Leuthold to his home country after serving his jail term in Cambodia,” Peng Manet said.

Hang Sitha and Hugo’s defence lawyer, Pich Soriya, could not be reached for comment at press time.

Peng Manet said Leuthold  could face another charge.  She alleged that while  allowed out of prison for hospital treatment in February, he had escaped but had been apprehended and returned to jail.

The court had not yet taken this issue into consideration, she added.

Since 2003, when Cambodia began cracking down on paedophilic activities in the Kingdom, dozens of foreigners have been jailed or deported to serve jail terms in their home countries.