Child Sex Bustf

Preah Sihanouk provincial court on Monday sentenced a Cambodian paedophile to 18 years in prison and ordered him to pay 10 million riels (around US$2,380) after finding him guilty of raping a 5-year-old girl last year. Iv Hok, 49, was arrested in December at his home in Stung Hav district after a complaint was lodged by the mother of the victim. Samleang Seila, country director of the child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants, applauded the sentence. “We strongly congratulate the positive verdict today, which gives a serious punishment against the offender for the rape of a 5-year-old girl,” he said. “It sends a message to other offenders to be afraid and scared of committing rape crimes against underage children.” But Chan Vannak, Iv Hok’s defence lawyer, said the court’s decision was “very unjust”. “It gave my client a serious punishment and ignored his denial of the allegations during the hearings,” he said.