Thursday, 24 December 2009

Child sex case: Woman, 26, accused of soliciting sex



(CAAI News Media)

Wednesday, 23 December 2009 15:02 Tep Nimol and Chrann Chamroeun

A 26-year-old woman is in pretrial detention in Battambang province after being charged with soliciting child sex for clients, court officials said Tuesday. Moeun Socheata was arrested during a police raid on Thursday in Battambang’s Svay Por commune as she was arranging for men to have sex with two girls – ages 14 and 17 – at a local guesthouse. Complaints were lodged by the victims’ parents on December 15. Police said she confessed to having arranged for sex with underage girls for several years. “I charged her on Sunday, December 20, with soliciting child prostitution,” Kheuv Phalla, a Battambang court prosecutor, said. Born Vannara, deputy chief of Battambang’s anti-human trafficking bureau, said the suspect was believed to be involved in arranging underage sex for clients in Phnom Penh and Battambang, but that police were unable to arrest her due to insufficient evidence and a lack of cooperation from the victims. “Just recently we received two complaints from the victims’ parents [asking] to arrest her,” he said. If guilty, Mouen Socheata faces five to 10 years in prison.

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