SIEM Reap provincial court yesterday charged a Japanese tourist with purchasing sex from two boys aged 15 and 16 on Wednesday night.

Oi Nobuyuki, 33, was arrested on charges of sexually abusing the two boys along the Siem Reap river in Siem Reap town, after locals informed police that he had paid the boys a total of US$20 to perform sex acts on him.

He was arrested five minutes later, according to Sun Bunthrong, chief of the provincial Anti-human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau.

“The suspect confessed to ordering the boys to [perform sex acts] and giving them $10 each,” he said. “These things have proved his guilt of purchasing child prostitution under article 34 of the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.”

If found guilty, Nobuyuki faces two to five years in prison for abusing a child over the age of 15, and a further seven to 15 years for abusing a child under the age of 15.

Samleang Seila, country director for child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants, said yesterday that the NGO would provide lawyers for each of the two victims in any upcoming trial following a complaint lodged by the victim’s parents.

“We believe they have been sexually abused by the suspect, and there is relevant evidence from both victims and the suspects testimony,” he said.