A member of the French judiciary and the director of the NGO Enfants du Cambodge was arrested this week in Sihanoukville on suspicion of sexually exploiting seven boys aged between the ages of 12 and 19, police revealed yesterday.

Pen Kanha, the provincial deputy police chief and head of the anti-human trafficking unit, said French national and former judge Philippe Broaly was arrested on Tuesday.

“We checked his house where he runs an NGO and invited him to our police headquarters where we arrested him,” Kanha said yesterday evening. “He’s now in court with us to be questioned with prosecutors.”

In a statement released yesterday, Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) alleged that “at least five males living in the NGO with the suspect” had been assaulted.