The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday sentenced German national Hans Gandner to seven years in jail for sexually abusing two 13-year-old boys and ordered him to pay 5 million riel compensation, or about $1,250, to his victims.
“The court found Gandner, Hans guilty of committing indecent acts against a minor under the age of 15 and of purchasing child prostitution,” presiding Judge Sin Visal said.
After his jail term in Cambodia, 69-year-old Mr. Gandner will be expelled from the country, Mr. Visal said.
“The court has decided to ban Mr. Hans from staying in Cambodia and orders him to pay 3 million riel to…the father of his 13-year-old victim, and 2 million riel to…the grandmother of another boy [whom he abused],” the judge said.
Mr. Gandner was charged with sexually abusing the two boys in April in Phnom Penh. The boys said that they had approached Mr. Gandner on the riverside asking for money, and that Mr. Gandner then molested them. After the abuse, Mr. Gandner paid them $9 and $15 respectively.
The native of the northern city of Hamburg was already on his way to Phnom Penh International airport to catch a flight to Malaysia when he was arrested on April 23, anti-child sexual abuse and exploitation NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), which reported the abuse of one victim, said in a statement.
“During police interrogation, Gandner confessed not only to having sexually molested this boy, but also to abusing another boy, who was identified later that day,” APLE said.
“This sentence…is another strong signal towards potential future offenders that they will not get away with their crimes unpunished,” Khoem Vando, APLE deputy director of project management, said Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Denise Hruby)
