A Dutch pedophile who was twice acquitted of child sex abuse charges in Cambodia was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of engaging in indecent acts against minors and possession of child pornography, a child protection group announced this week.
Sebastiaan Reuijl, 42, who had been found guilty of sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy in the Netherlands in 2004 and relocated to Cambodia several years later, continued to abuse young children while living in Siem Reap City, police and NGO investigators said.
He was acquitted in separate cases in 2011 and 2013, but then in August was arrested for a third time after three young victims reported abuse, according to a statement from Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE). Police said last year that he was arrested for repeatedly molesting his 4-year-old next door neighbor.
Despite all the victims withdrawing their complaints during the court proceedings, Mr. Reuijl was found guilty of all charges on Tuesday, the APLE statement said.
“This is one of many cases in which the offenders won’t stop abusing until they get caught. As in this case, without harsh punishment, this man will never stop,” Vando Khoem, APLE program director, said in the statement.
Contacted by phone on Friday, Mr. Khoem said further details about case, including the circumstances surrounding the victims retracting their complaints, were unavailable since APLE was not representing any of the victims in court.
The prosecutor in the case could not be reached for comment.
