Sentence contested

The Court of Appeal yesterday heard the case of a former owner of a karaoke and massage shop charged with pimping her employees.

Vietnamese national Yim Sorita, 55, the former owner of Bopha O-Chin Karaoke and Massage Shop, had been convicted and sentenced by the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court to seven years imprisonment in 2011. Sorita was accused of forcing her employees, some aged only 13 and 14, into having sex with clients and taking all profits for herself.

“Every time that I slept or had sex with the guests in the shop, I had to give the money to her,” said Nguyen Vaing Sy, 14, one of six girls rescued from the shop. “And when I was brought by the guests to have sex with them outside her shop, I also had to pay her.”

Police rescued a total of six girls − three Cambodian and three Vietnamese nationals − in a raid of the shop.

Sorita denied she had used her shop to solicit prostitution or forced the girls into having sex with clients but admitted to renting out her rooms to her workers.

“I was not aware that they had sex with guests in their rooms. If I have known this I would not have allowed them to do it,” she said. “Therefore, I would like to ask the Court of Appeal to drop charges against me and release me.”

The Appeal Court will hand down Yim Sorita’s verdict on March 27.