U.S. citizen sentenced to eight years after paying Cambodian family to have sex with child

2010-12-22 04:55:10 GMT+7 (ICT)

LOS ANGELES (BNO NEWS) -- An American citizen who abused children while working as a teacher in Phnom Penh, Cabmodia has been sentenced to 104 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a young girl in Cambodia.

Michael James Dodd, 61, pleaded guilty on September 10, admitting that he engaged in sexual conduct with a 14-year-old girl in 2008. He admitted that he paid the girl's poor family $100 a month in order to 'rent' the girl.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, Dodd further admitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he traveled to Cambodia because he could not teach in other countries as a result of his prior sex-related convictions.

In 2001, on the Northern Mariana Islands near Guam, Dodd was arrested for inappropriately touching 13 underage female students at an elementary school where he worked.

Dodd was arrested by the Cambodian National Police in October 2008 following an investigation into his illegal sexual relationship with the 14-year-old girl. He was expelled from Cambodia in February and was arrested by federal authorities when he arrived in the United States.

Dodd pleaded guilty to one count of traveling to Cambodia and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter. He admitted that he had sex with the girl on several occasions and further admitted to having sex with other children in Cambodia.

"This is one of the most disgusting cases that has ever come before this court," Judge Walter said during sentencing, adding that Dodd is a "cunning, clever and manipulative predator."

Taking into account the approximately 16 months that Dodd spent in jail in Cambodia, the total sentence in this case is 10 years. In addition to the prison term, Judge Walter ordered Dodd to pay $9,500 in restitution which will be used to pay for counseling and education for the victim, who is now 16 years old.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-12-22

And now he will find out how much younger men in prison like older men who molest children.  

Only sixteen months in jail in Cambodia? That thing should be rotting in a small cell in the country he was caught in.

Ditto