January 27, 2010
On Tuesday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced a Frenchman Claude Jean Pierre Demeret to serve 6 months of the three-year jail term for Purchasing of Child Prostitution in line with Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
The Judge also ordered Demeret to pay 1 million riel (equivalent to $240) compensation to his 16-year-old victim whom he picked up for sexual acts in his guesthouse room.
Demeret was arrested in August 2009 in his guesthouse room in Phnom Penh’s Tonle Basac district after the 16-year-old girl victim implicated that [Demeret] had taken her for performing sexual intercourse.
The court decision had instilled with dissatisfactory to child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants-APLE. As in the Phnom Penh Post, Mr. Samleang Seila, APLE country director, expressed his frustration with the sentence, stating it would degrade the effort of the local authorities to stamp out child prostitution (The Phnom Penh Post, January 27, 2010). Mr. Seila further added that this sentence is not acceptable to us, as the charge of pornography was not appropriate. As found, the pornographic images depict the the young girl in sexual contact with him [Demeret].
This light sentence is likely destroying the effort of the government and the police who are willing to diminish Cambodia’s horror images. APLE is advocating for no suspended sentence or release as this is not good result.
Mr. Seila stated that his NGO was preparing to file an appeal against such light sentence as soon as Wednesday.
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