An Australian man convicted last year of having sex with a five-year-old girl in Siem Reap had his appeal case delayed yesterday due to alleged mental health problems. 

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Court of Appeal judge Plang Samnang said the case of Giuseppe Nicolosi, an Australian businessman sentenced to serve eight years in jail by the Siem Reap provincial court for purchasing child prostitution, would be delayed due to an illness suffered by the defendant.

“The accused person now has a nervous illness; the court decided to delay his appeal hearing,” the judge said, although a future appeal date was not set.

Nicolosi’s attorney, Kao Soupha, said his client has been suffering from nervousness due to lack of sleep.

“My client is not feeling well. He did not want to talk to other people. He also lost his memory,” the defence attorney told the Post yesterday.

The attorney claimed his client was innocent and was wrongly arrested by the Siem Reap Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection police last year after he refused to pay them US$1,000 in order to avoid an arrest.

Kao Soupha said he asked the president of the Appeal Court to review the case in order to find justice for his client.

To contact the reporter on this story: Buth Reaksmey Kongkea at [email protected]