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Graham Cleghorn….victim
of injustice in |
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The
arrests and jailing of New Zealander Graham Robert Cleghorn, 55, and his
Cambodian wife Bot Keur, 23, were announced amid a government crackdown on
sex crimes, particularly cases involving children. Sam
Bunthorn, bureau chief of anti-human trafficking of northwestern Siem Reap
province, said Cleghorn was taken into custody after the courts issued
warrants for the couple's arrest. He
said the wife was charged with procuring young women for Cleghorn, who has
lived in "We
have investigated this man since earlier this year. Every night, he would take
one girl to sleep with him, and if any of the girls were hurt, he would pay
her two to five dollars as compensation," he said. Sam
Bunthorn said police took another five girls under 15 years -- the age of consent
in The
girls were being interviewed by police, who said further charges against the
pair could follow. The
girls were allegedly lured into the couple's house and were paid 20 dollars a
month living allowance in return for housekeeping duties, he said, adding
that police also found an illegal gun. In
southeastern Svay Rieng province 15-year-old Chan Sovannarong was jailed for
12 years for raping a seven year-old girl after the girl's parents filed a
complaint to police, provincial court director Pen Sarith told AFP. Pen
Sarith said the court heard the case over this week, adding that Chan
Sovannarong had initially confessed to the rape "because he always
witnessed sex workers having sex while way he walked to school." The
judge said the youth thought this was normal. "The
youth then denied he raped the girl, but we had enough evidence to prove
beyond doubt that he surely raped the girl," he said, referring to the
results of medical examinations. Last
week, a Earlier this month, an 18-year-old Cambodian man was
sentenced to 10 years in jail for raping a 14-month-old girl. |