Phnom Penh: A Cambodian court has convicted a British man of sexually abusing two girls and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
Authorities say 38-year-old Matthew Harland was arrested in May last year at the house he rented in the capital, Phnom Penh. He was found to be living with two sisters aged 11 and 12.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Kor Vandy convicted Harland on Thursday on charges of buying sex from the girls and ordered him to pay each child compensation of one million riel (USD 250).
Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign paedophiles because of poverty and poor law enforcement. In recent years, police and courts have increasingly targeted sex offenders.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 15:53