Convicted child-sex offender Jonathan Keeler will be moved from his cramped quarters at Kandal Prison to a comparatively luxurious new facility in Phnom Penh, officials said this week.
Kandal Province Chief Prosecutor Chheng Phat said Keeler, who is serving a 3-year sentence for debauchery of young girls, would be happier at the larger, modern prison of Prey Sar.
“This prison is very dirty, but Prey Sar is very good, with international standards,” Chheng Phat said. “There are a lot of prisoners here, so sending him to that prison will make him better off.”
Keeler was arrested late last year after police found him making lewd videotapes of four girls between the ages of 8 and 10 in a public park in Takmao town.
The 54-year-old Briton has complained bitterly about prison conditions in Kandal, where he shares a run-down cell with 11 other prisoners.
Since his conviction last December, he has attempted a series of abortive hunger strikes in protest over what he claims was his wrongful conviction.
At his sentencing, he flew into a rage, overturning court furniture and accusing his lawyer of pocketing $5,400 meant to bribe him out of jail.
But the ex-school headmaster has since developed a warm relationship with his cellmates, who refer to him as ‘Papa,’ Chheng Phat said.
It was as a result of the urgings of his ‘sons’ that Keeler broke off his hunger strikes, the prosecutor said.
“He is fatter than before right now,” Chheng Phat said. “He does not want to kill himself anymore. He wants to be alive.”
Chheng Phat said that although Keeler will be sad about being separated from his new friends, he will ultimately be happier at his new home.
Authorities earlier rejected a plan to move Keeler to Trapeang Phlong Prison on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border because they decided transporting him to Phnom Penh Municipal Court for his ongoing appeals process was too difficult.
