An elderly Canadian man convicted of sexually abusing four young boys wept at the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh yesterday as the prosecution argued for his sentence to be lengthened to 11 years.

Pierre Deslauriers, 73, was arrested in Siem Reap in February 2014 for paying $1 each to four boys – all under the age of 12 – in return for sexual favours. He was given the minimum sentence of seven years.

Unsatisfied with the result, the prosecution filed a complaint against the “light” jail term and asked the presiding judge to extend it to 11 years.

Defence lawyer Ly Tith Bonamy said his client’s age and health should be taken into consideration. “His wife and children all died in a traffic accident and he is old and has stomach and kidney cancer. He will die in the prison if the court punishes him for more than seven years,” he said.

Deslauriers, who was convicted in 1994 of sexually assaulting two girls, ages 3 and 5, begged the judge not to increase his sentence, claiming the Siem Reap court declined to call a witness who would have proved his innocence. A verdict is due October 5.