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An American national of South Korean
origin was sentenced to 13 years in prison in Cambodia for having
sex with a 14-year-old girl, a judge said Tuesday.
Chan Madina, a judge at the Phnom Penh
Municipal Court, told The Associated Press she sentenced
46-year-old Myron Maboris on Monday. She convicted him of
debauchery during a trial last Thursday.
Debauchery is a broadly defined Cambodian
legal term for sexual offenses against minors that is punishable by
10 to 20 years in jail.
She said she also ordered the man to pay 3
million riel (US$740; €550) in compensation to the girl.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman declined to
comment on the case, citing privacy laws.
Police arrested Maboris during a raid on
his Phnom Penh guest house room in October last year while he was
with the ethnic Vietnamese girl, who was naked.
Police also arrested the girl's
49-year-old mother and three men — a motorbike taxi-driver
who transported her and two alleged sex brokers.
The girl's mother was also sentenced to
13 years in jail for involvement in the crime, Chan Madina said,
adding the motorbike taxi-driver and two other men each received
eight-year jail terms on conspiracy charges.
Lax law enforcement and poverty have made
Cambodia a prime destination for foreigners seeking sex with
minors. But police have recently stepped up efforts to fight the
crime.
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