Siem Reap Provincial Court on Friday charged a 64-year-old Danish national with procurement for allegedly forcing three males aged between 15 and 21 to have sex with customers at his guesthouse since 2009.
Deputy prosecutor Sok Keobandith said on Friday that Svend Erick Jonasson could face up to 15 years in jail but declined to give more details about the case.
The suspect, who owns the Seven In Guest House, was arrested on Thursday in Siem Reap City’s Toek Vil commune for letting his guests have sex with the males, who worked at the guesthouse and are aged 15, 18 and 21 years old, said Oum Amara, deputy provincial police chief said.
“[The victims] had sex with Mr Jonasson’s customers, each time charging $15-20 but the suspect took $5 of that fee,” Mr Amara said.
He added that the suspect confessed to having sex with the boys but denied the prostitution allegations.
“However, the three boys said that the suspect had sex with them and forced them to sexually service his customers many times since 2009,” Mr Amara said.
Sun Bunthorng, provincial bureau chief of the anti-trafficking police, said that police were trying to find an additional two victims for questioning related to the case.
Samleang Seila, country director for anti-pedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants, said the number of foreign pedophiles in Siem Reap has risen in the past couple of months.
He added that according to APLE records, 29 foreign pedophiles were arrested in 2009, while 13 have been arrested this year so far.
