The Mondolkiri Provincial Court on Thursday charged a 32-year-old plantation worker for raping a 12-year-old girl in Keo Seima district on Monday, police said.
Deputy provincial police chief So Sovann said the court charged Lem San with aggravated rape, which is punishable by between seven and 15 years in prison. “The court charged him with aggravated rape this afternoon,” he said. “We already sent him to pretrial detention at the provincial prison.”
Mr. Sovann said the suspect confessed to the crime when police questioned him on Wednesday. “He raped the girl because he saw the girls go fishing together in the forest and there weren’t any villagers nearby, so it was a good opportunity for him,” he said.
Mr. Sovann said earlier this week that the suspect lured the 12-year-old away from her two friends, aged 10 and 11, by convincing her to help him tend cows and promising her food.
Mr. San was arrested in Sre Chhouk commune on Tuesday night on a rubber plantation where he worked.
