Ex-NMI teacher gets 10 years in jail in Cambodia for sexual abuse of minor

http://www.saipantribune.com/

Thursday, September 24, 2009

CAAI News Media

By Ferdie de la Torre

Reporter

Michael J. Dodd, a former teacher at an elementary school here on Saipan, was convicted last month in Cambodia for sexual abuse of a minor girl.

Dodd was sentenced to 10 years in jail in the CNMI in 2002 for molesting several children but was given parole after five years.

According to newspapers from Cambodia, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted and sentenced the 60-year-old Dodd to 10 years in jail for sexually abusing a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl.

Dodd, from Washington, was ordered to pay 20 million riels ($4,824) in compensation to the girl.

The judge also ordered the victim's mother to 10 years in jail for aiding in the sexual abuse of her daughter.

The newspapers said authorities arrested Dodd in Phnom Penh's Dauhn Denh district in Oct. 2008 over allegations of child sex abuse and procurement involving the victim and another 13-year-old girl.

In July 2002, Dodd pleaded guilty to five child molestation charges in the CNMI Superior Court. Then Presiding Judge Edward Manibusan sentenced the defendant to 10 years in prison.

During the sentencing hearing, Dodd admitted to the charges and apologized for his wrongdoings.

“I had no right to touch them. I was their teacher, not their playmate. It struck me like a knife to see the repercussions of what I did,” Dodd told the parents of the victims who were in the courtroom.

Press Secretary Charles Reyes Jr. said yesterday that according to the Office of the Attorney General, Dodd was placed on parole on May 15, 2006 for his crimes in the CNMI.

Reyes said the parole was granted only on the condition that he leave the CNMI.

CNMI Board of Parole chairman R.B. Camacho in a statement said they have been monitoring Dodd's case in Cambodia closely and have had a good communication with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Camacho said there was some discussion about returning Dodd to the CNMI prior to being brought to trial in Cambodia.

“I'm glad that the Cambodia justice system was given time to complete its work. I think the Commonwealth is safer and that justice is better served with Mr. Dodd remaining in Cambodia and being held accountable for his new crimes there,” Camacho said.