The former chief executive of local private airline Aero Cambodia, Brian Naswall, 53, pleaded not guilty to child prostitution charges yesterday in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Naswall was arrested on Phnom Penh’s Diamond Island, or Koh Pich, on May 22 last year for allegedly having oral sex with a young girl in front of her two friends, aged 14, 15 and 16.

Naswall yesterday said he had taken the girls to the Dream Land amusement park before heading to Diamond Island. On the way, one needed to use the toilet.

“The girl who went to the toilet disappeared for a few minutes then the police came with the APLE guys, and arrested me,” he told the court, referring to NGO Action Pour Les Enfants, which investigates pedophiles.

Naswall also faces abuse accusations from parents of other children from Borei Keila, where he lived. The parents have demanded financial compensation .

At the end of the hearing, Naswall’s lawyer requested the charges be downgraded from child prostitution to child molestation. A verdict is due on June 14.