Dutch man arrested in Cambodia for child sex abuse
The Cambodian authorities arrested a 42-year-old Dutch man this week on suspicion that he repeatedly sexually abused a 6-year-old girl, relief organization Terre des Hommes announced. The man was caught based on a tip received by APLE, a local partner of the relief organization, AD reports.
The child's mother turned to APLE when she noticed her daughter was being abused. The girl gave a statement to the police. "We are very pleased wit the rapid action of the provincial youth protection police", Vando Khoem of APLE said. "Such an action is not only about saving one girl, but about preventing many new abuse cases."
According to Carel Kok, director of Terre des Hommes, another foreigner being arrested for sexually abusing a child shows just how big the problem is. "Child sex tourists who sexually abuse children in Asia still get away with it too often. The gathering of evidence is extremely labor intensive. That is why we are proud that our local partner managed to round out a case in such a short time."
Another Dutch man is currently standing trial in Cambodia, also for child abuse. Stefan S. is suspected of involvement in the torture of a 2-year-old boy. He was arrested in December after horrifying videos were posted on Facebook showing a Vietnamese man torturing the toddler with a cattle prod. The little boy was naked, tied up and blindfolded. The police found 49 videos of the toddler being tortured on the Vietnamese man's phone.
The torture allegedly happened on the farm of Stefan S. where the boy's parents worked. In court this week he denied knowing about the abuse.
And in April another Dutch man was arrested for paying underage boys to pose naked so that he could take pictures of them. The authorities found over 1,300 photos of naked boys, all under the age of 15, on his phone.
