The Appeals Court on Wednesday overturned a prior decision of the Siem Reap court and released on bail an accused Australian sex offender while upholding the provincial court’s decision to hold another alleged Australian sex offender until trial.
Appeals Court judges Thou Mony, Um Sarith and Noun Im decided to release Clint Rex Betterridge because they said the courts had not yet gathered enough evidence against him and his alleged crime is not so severe, overruling a Siem Reap court decision on Dec 4 to deny him bail.
Betterridge does not pose a flight risk because the courts have confiscated his passport, said his attorney Dy Borima on Wednesday, adding that the court had ordered him to stay in Cambodia.
At the same time, the court decided to keep accused sex offender Bart “Lucky” Lauwaert behind bars until his trial because the court has evidence that could show Lauwaert was involved in a crime, Thou Mony said.
He added that Betterridge has only been accused of physically molesting an underage girl while Lauwaert has been accused of having sexual intercourse with several underage girls.
The men were arrested in Siem Reap town on Aug 2 and Aug 3 and charged with debauchery for allegedly having sexual relations with three girls aged 12 to 14.
Lauwaert, who briefly shared a house with Betterridge, has been accused by several girls of hiring them to work as maids and then coercing them into having sex.
Betterridge and Lauwaert were not present during the appeals hearing on Wednesday. No trial date has been set for either man.
Siem Reap Court Judge Ang Maltey said on Wednesday that the courts had enough evidence to detain Betterridge without bail but would comply with the Appeal Court’s decision.
