Russian pedophile case riles rights groups in Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

8/26/2010

PHNOM PENH — A Russian businessman accused of sexually abusing 17 children in Cambodia's largest-known pedophile case had his sentence reduced to eight years from 17 on Thursday in an appeal that riled human rights advocates.

Lawyers for Alexander Trofimov, 43, who is also wanted by Interpol and Russia for suspected sex offences, said there was no solid evidence to prove he had abused 17 girls while working as a director of a holiday resort company.

The judge said Trofimov paid as little as $5 and as much as $2,000 for sex with girls from 2006 to 2007 in Cambodia's seaside Preah Sihanouk province but reduced the sentence because he apologized and, as a foreigner, did not know the local laws.

Trofimov is the highest-profile case brought to court since Cambodia launched an anti-pedophile drive three years ago to ditch its reputation as a haven for foreign child abusers. The number of victims makes it the largest on record.

"The court's decision is surprising. The public will have difficulty accepting this," Noun Phanith, lawyer for the victims, told reporters. "Eight years is unacceptable."

The move comes as Cambodia, a country blighted by poverty, corruption, human rights abuses and a thriving sex industry, seeks to clean up its image and attract foreign investment.

Since 2008, 64 suspected pedophiles, mostly foreigners, have been arrested, with 45 convictions so far, according to Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), a French group working closely with Cambodia's police to track sex offenders.