A 26-year-old Australian man was convicted of debauchery, sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $3,000 in compensation on Monday for having sex with six underage boys and taking pornographic photos of them, officials said Tuesday.
Damien James Daniel Walker, a former Phnom Penh English teacher, was arrested on Dec 13 after police received reports he had boys sleeping with him in his Daun Penh district home, officials said. Several underage boys were in his home at the time, and police found hundreds of pornographic images of children on his computer.
Walker was ordered by Phnom Penh Municipal Court to pay $500 to each of six victims, who are aged between 11 and 14 years, deputy prosecutor Kry Sok Y said.
“He took naked photos of the boys. That’s the evidence,” Kry Sok Y said.
Walker paid the boys between $0.50 and $10 each time he had sex with them, Kry Sok Y added.
Liv Sovanna, lawyer for the six victims, said he was happy with the verdict from the trial, which was held in private to protect her young clients.
Walker’s lawyer Theng Meng Y said his client had confessed to the charges and deserved leniency, as he had committed the crimes because he suffered from mental problems.
A statement from anti-pedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants, which investigated Walker for two weeks prior to his arrest, applauded the conviction.
APLE noted that among 27 men arrested in Cambodia for sexually abusing children since 2003, Walker was only the second to be convicted here, while two others were convicted in the US after extradition.
