Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday heard the case of three purported prostitutes-turned-madams accused of soliciting sex with underage girls to wealthy patrons.

Judge Suos Sam Ath said defendants Chan Srey Leak, aka Ly, 25; Soeun Tey, aka Srey Pov, 24; and Kim Layseak, 18, “provided three young girls in their rental house on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, and arranged and brought them to have sex with rich men in guesthouses or hotels”.

Lieutenant Colonel Keo Thea, chief of the Phnom Penh Municipal Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Unit, said the three accused “used to bring victims to sleep with clients in hotels for a fee of $100 per time, and they took a commission of $50 from them per client”.

During the hearing, the three accused asked for lighter sentences, admitting to having delivered the victims to clients, but only because the victims had, as Srey Leak put it, “agreed to it by themselves because they wanted to earn money to support themselves and their families”.