A former manager and cashier at the Paris Hotel in Phnom Penh told the Court of Appeal on Wednesday that they knew nothing about people having sex in the hotel’s massage room and insisted customers were there only to get massages.
The former manager, Puoy Keak, 36, and the cashier, Duong Dany, 29, were found guilty in October and each sentenced to five months in jail and seven months probation, as well as being fined about $1,800 each, for procuring prostitution and providing a location for prostitution.
Mr. Keak told the court Wednesday that he did not allow sex in the massage rooms, and that if it did occur, he did not know about it, adding that used condoms found by police were from customers who stayed at the hotel.
Ms. Dany said she only collected money. “I’m just a cashier…. I don’t know anything,” she said.
But some of the masseuses said they did have sex with customers—with Ms. Dany taking $5 of their profit—and a hotel cleaner said she provided condoms to the women.
In June, police raided the hotel and arrested Mr. Keak, Ms. Dany, 25 Cambodian masseuses and 10 Vietnamese masseuses.
Presiding Judge Oum Sarith said the court’s decision would be announced on January 22.
