Elderly German man charged with child sex in Cambodia

Nov 2, 2007, 7:21 GMT

Phnom Penh - An elderly German man has been charged with pedophilia-related offenses after he was allegedly caught in a hotel bed with a 14-year-old local girl, a child rights group representative said Friday.

Action Pour Les Enfants Cambodia director Samleang Seila said by telephone that Jopen Reimund Hubert, 61, from Cologne, had been the subject of an investigation by his organization and Phnom Penh Municipal anti-trafficking police for 'some time.'

'He was arrested Thursday with a 14-year-old girl in the bed in his hotel room. He faces charges of debauchery over allegations he sexually abused the girl,' Seila said.

Debauchery is the Cambodian term for child sex offenses and carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison. The legal age of consent in Cambodia is 15.

In March, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced two German men to a total of 40 years in prison for the aggravated sexual abuse of ethnic Vietnamese girls aged between 10 and 14 years and also sentenced one of the girls' mothers for supplying the children to the men.

In April, Walter Muze, 62, of Stuttgart, was charged over alleged sex with a 13-year-old Cambodian girl.

Last month, a Russian property developer was arrested in the coastal municipality of Sihanoukville and sent to Phnom Penh to await trial on charges of abusing at least six girls.

Cambodia has sentenced dozens of foreigners for child sex related crims in recent years in an effort to shake off its image as a pedophile haven.

Hubert can be held up to six months in pre-trial detention under Cambodian law while police continue investigations and build a case.