Phnom Penh Municipal Court has sentenced a British man to two years in prison for sexually abusing a five-year-old girl but suspended his entire sentence. According to a statement by Action Pour Les Enfants yesterday, the municipal court on Tuesday sentenced Mark Andrew Smith, 40, to two years in prison for committing indecent assault with aggravating circumstances.

 

However, his entire sentence was suspended and the court ordered Mr Smith to pay a fine of about $1,250. Mr Smith, a UK national and former deputy principal of Golden Bridge International School in Phnom Penh, was arrested in July last year as he was leaving the school.

 

The Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department arrested Mr Smith on suspicion of sexually abusing a five-year-old girl who studied at the school where he was working. The alleged sexual abuse was not reported until a local radio station discussed the concerns of parents on a live programme. APLE was asked to respond right after the broadcast.

 

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50115620/british-pedo-given-two-year-suspended-sentence/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khmer Times 23/03

5 hours ago, geovalin said:

Mr Smith, a UK national

Hopping the UK justice will catch him......

This article doesn't pass the smell test.

UK coverage:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5535311/Married-British-teacher-sexually-abused-girl-5-Cambodia-school.html

 

Local, French language coverage includes (in translation) "Sometimes, paedophilia accusations are fabricated by some ill-intentioned people, by greed or revenge, and it's always hard to tell when a case breaks out."

 

https://cambodgemag.com/2018/03/24251.html

16 minutes ago, Oxx said:

UK coverage:

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5535311/Married-British-teacher-sexually-abused-girl-5-Cambodia-school.html

 

Local, French language coverage includes (in translation) "Sometimes, paedophilia accusations are fabricated by some ill-intentioned people, by greed or revenge, and it's always hard to tell when a case breaks out."

 

https://cambodgemag.com/2018/03/24251.html

APLE have been called out several times for fabricating evidence and quite a few cases brought by them have been thrown out of court.

 

I am not trying to imply that the man is not guilty, god knows there are plenty of paedophiles in Cambodia, but anything claimed by APLE should be approached with caution.  I suspect the  low "fine" and suspended sentence means the evidence was highly suspect. 

I had always been led to believe that Cambodia was fairly merciless in dealing with crimes of this nature. Puzzling.

Teachers of children, particularly male foreigners in third-world countries, are especially vulnerable to accusations of this kind; there can be motives that are less than innocent, to say the least, so rigorous and impartial investigation is required - not always easy commodities to find in such places.

?

 

21 hours ago, dunroaming said:

APLE have been called out several times for fabricating evidence and quite a few cases brought by them have been thrown out of court.

 

I am not trying to imply that the man is not guilty, god knows there are plenty of paedophiles in Cambodia, but anything claimed by APLE should be approached with caution.  I suspect the  low "fine" and suspended sentence means the evidence was highly suspect. 

APLE has a questionable rep, yes.

 

But  it sounds like this complain did not originate with them, rather they jumped on the bandwagon afterwards.

 

I have no idea re this man's guilt or innocence. But it is not the case that a low fine and suspended sentence by a Cambodian court implies lack of evidence. It usually equates to a pay off. Which in itself does not imply guilt - the sad reality is, that is the best course of action when accused of a crime in Cambodia regardless of what the evidence may or may not show.