Prey Veng prison staff accused of helping an inmate extort a woman who sent him sexually explicit videos online may be “transferred” or “stripped of their rank”, an official said yesterday.

A spokesman for the General Department of Prisons, San Keo, said that though no action had been approved yet, a report about the case had suggested the measures for those accused of involvement, who include a deputy prison chief.

The case came to light three weeks ago after a woman from Kandal province filed a complaint with police. The victim alleged she handed over $520 to inmate Yem Bros after he threatened to publish naked videos she had sent. Police further claimed Bros was given access to phones and a computer, and was helped in collecting the payments by guards at the prison.

The case was raised on Friday at a semiannual meeting of chief wardens from across the country, where the chief of the General Department of Prisons, Chan Kim Seng, criticised Prey Veng Provincial Prison Director Chuon Sarim, Keo said.

“He said a lot about the case in Prey Veng prison and took it as an example,” Keo said. “He said there were repeated cases in this prison and he asked the chief to explain the case.”

Speaking last week, Sarim blamed “loopholes” for the case, and said guards implicated were still working. The director of operations at the Prisons Department, Be Tea Leng, yesterday said guards at the facility were too close to inmates.