Phnom Penh - An elderly German man has been charged with
pedophilia-related offenses after he was allegedly caught in a hotel
bed with a 14-year-old local girl, a child rights group
representative said Friday.
Action Pour Les Enfants Cambodia director Samleang Seila said by
telephone that Jopen Reimund Hubert, 61, from Cologne, had been the
subject of an investigation by his organization and Phnom Penh
Municipal anti-trafficking police for 'some time.'
'He was arrested Thursday with a 14-year-old girl in the bed in
his hotel room. He faces charges of debauchery over allegations he
sexually abused the girl,' Seila said.
Debauchery is the Cambodian term for child sex offenses and
carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison. The legal age of
consent in Cambodia is 15.
In March, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced two German men
to a total of 40 years in prison for the aggravated sexual abuse of
ethnic Vietnamese girls aged between 10 and 14 years and also
sentenced one of the girls' mothers for supplying the children to the
men.
In April, Walter Muze, 62, of Stuttgart, was charged over alleged
sex with a 13-year-old Cambodian girl.
Last month, a Russian property developer was arrested in the
coastal municipality of Sihanoukville and sent to Phnom Penh to await
trial on charges of abusing at least six girls.
Cambodia has sentenced dozens of foreigners for child sex related
crims in recent years in an effort to shake off its image as a
pedophile haven.
Hubert can be held up to six months in pre-trial detention under
Cambodian law while police continue investigations and build a case.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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