A 30-year-old German tourist was arrested and charged with debauchery Thursday in Sihanoukville, court officials said.
Michael Ruckrien is accused of paying at least five boys to perform sex acts on several occasions this month and is now in jail, officials said.
“He would persuade them to a quiet place near Ochateal Beach” and then molest the boys, said Mam Mith, prosecutor for the Sihanoukville municipal court. The oldest of the boys is 15, he said.
Ruckrien came under suspicion last weekend when the boys alerted tourist police that he was paying them $4 to have anal sex and perform other acts, said Maggie Eno, director of the NGO M’Lup Tapang, which aided in the investigation.
According to Eno, Ruckrien was questioned by authorities on Sunday then released.
Officers from the anti-human trafficking bureau in Sihanoukville asked Ruckrien to return to police custody Thursday morning, and he complied, said Investigating Judge Keo Siphan.
Eno said police initially believed the boys’ testimonies were insufficient evidence to prosecute Ruckrien, who was allowed the opportunity to leave the country at his discretion.
“It took more than 72 hours between when the boys told police and when he was arrested. That’s too long. That’s three whole days to escape, and that’s what we want to change,” Eno said.
Eno, whose NGO educates homeless children, said the boys had told police that Ruckrien met them on the beach and paid them for sex in a clearing behind the sand dunes every night over six consecutive days.
Keo Siphan said Ruckrien had denied the charges in his meeting with the prosecutor Thursday. Ruckrien “said the boys are trying to accuse him,” the judge said.
Debauchery, a legal term for sexually corrupting minors, is punishable by 10 to 20 years imprisonment.
