A 40-year-old man was charged and placed in pre-trial detention in Kandal Provincial Prison on Saturday for blackmail and distributing nude pictures of his ex-girlfriend.

Court spokesman Sou Sarin identified the accused as Im Oun and said he was arrested on Thursday in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district.

Deputy prosecutor Tin Sochetra charged Oun with blackmail under Article 372 of the Criminal Code and with posting pornography under Article 39 of the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

“The man was charged with blackmail and distributing pornography and is now in jail,” Sarin said.

According to Article 372, the accused faces up to five years in prison if found guilty. Article 39 states that a person who distributes, sells, leases, displays, projects or presents pornography in a public place shall be punished with up to one year in jail.

Kandal Stung district police chief Men Chanrith said on Sunday that a 22-year-old woman filed a complaint against the accused after he threatened her and leaked her pictures.

“When she told me about the issue, I reported it to provincial police who questioned her. I did not question her directly,” he said, adding that the accused lived in a rental room in the village and the woman lived in Kandal Stung district.

A provincial policeman, who asked not to be named, said in 2017 the man and woman knew each other when they were working at a garment factory in the village and they fell in love and cohabited.

The woman believed that they would get married, so she let him take pictures when they had sexual intercourse.

Last year, she learned that the accused already had a wife and two children. And in December the same year, she got engaged to another man.

“Two days later, the accused sent messages to her on Facebook telling her that he would not allow her to marry her fiance and would kill her.

“Besides, he leaked her nude pictures to her fiance and others. The fiance became angry and ended their marriage that was scheduled for this month,” he said.