British national denies pedo allegations

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday heard the case of a British teacher accused of allegedly sexually assaulting four Cambodian girls aged between 6 and 11 years old last year.

Presiding judge Ly Sok Leng said that defendant Michael Glyn Jones, 54, had lured in his alleged victims – who were disadvantaged street children – by offering them food and small amounts of money.

Each of the four alleged victims is demanding $5,000 in compensation, he added.

Colonel Keo Thea, chief of the Municipal Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Unit, said that Jones had been arrested last June based on a tip-off from child protection NGO Action pour Les Enfants (APLE).

“Our police followed him after we received a report from APLE that he always comforted kids by giving them some money and soft drinks, and [then] took them to [be] sexually abused and have sex with him,” Thea testified.

Jones yesterday admitted that he knew the girls, and had given them food and drinks and taken them to see his home, but denied that any sexual contact occurred.

The hearing will continue on March 6.