Philippe Broaly, the former French judge and child-protection NGO director who was convicted in May for sexually assaulting boys in his care, had his sentence extended to three years by the Appeal Court on Friday, according to anti-pedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE).
Khoem Vando, deputy director of field operations at APLE, said Sunday that the court had extended the sentence and officially ordered Mr. Broaly’s deportation. But the decision made little difference, he said, as the sentence was still suspended and Mr. Broaly had returned to France.
“Even though the Appeal Court increased it from 14 months to three years, they still ordered him to be imprisoned for eight months and 16 days. The order of the imprisonment is the same as before,” Mr. Vando said.
“There should not be any suspension because, as you know, crimes against children are serious and he really traumatized the children very much,” he added.
Sin Visal, the Appeal Court judge who handed down the decision, could not be reached.
In May, Mr. Broaly, who is in his 50s, was sentenced by the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court to 14 months in prison for sexually assaulting five boys over a period of several years. But the court suspended 5 and 1/2 months of the sentence, sparking outrage from child protection NGOs.
Ros Saram, a deputy prosecutor at the Preah Sihanouk court who was in charge of the case, said at the time that the court could not hand down a longer sentence because testimony heard during the trial had come solely from the Frenchman’s victims.
Following his release, Mr. Broaly, who was not subject to a deportation order, returned to France. According to a statement released by APLE on Friday, the Appeal Court’s decision did include a deportation order, meaning the convicted pedophile cannot return to Cambodia.
Earlier this month, Mr. Broaly was arrested by authorities in France for possession of child pornography and is awaiting trial there, according to Mr. Vando.
