A notorious pedophile who was one of the first US citizens expelled by Cambodia to face child sex offence charges in the United States was jailed for 10 years by a US federal court on Tuesday.

Jack Sporich, 81, who was arrested in Siem Riep province in 2009 for the abuse of boys aged 9 to 14, was sent back to the United States later that year under pioneering legislation established by the US government to clamp down on sex crimes committed abroad.

After pleading guilty to abusing two boys – a plea he unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw – Sporich was sentenced to 10 years in jail and five years of supervised release, as well as being fined $125,000, by a US court in Los Angeles.

The verdict was yesterday welcomed by Sabine Park, legal and protection unit manager at NGO Hagar Cambodia, which has assisted one of Sporich’s victims.

“It sends a clear signal to other sexual predators that you can’t come here and abuse children and walk free,” she said.

Sporich previously spent more than a decade jailed in the US for sex crimes against children.