Jean-Marc Ballestra, 26, was released from police custody Wednesday following a Municipal Court decision not to detain the French national until a court date is set to hear charges he assaulted a Phnom Penh sex worker.
Municipal Court prosecutor Chin Chiva said Thursday that Ballestra was released because he gave himself up Tuesday to police to answer charges he raped and beat a 22-year-old prostitute after she refused his request for oral sex.
Ballestra, the manager of Jarai, a home-decoration shop off Sisowath Quay, denies he assaulted the woman, but admits he physically ejected her from a guest house in the Boeng Kak lake area.
The alleged victim of the assault said at the courthouse Tuesday that Ballestra took her to the guest house from a Tuol Kok district brothel early last Thursday morning. Ballestra, who paid around $5 to the brothel owner, later became angry when she refused to perform oral sex, she alleged.
An Immigration Police officer speaking on condition of anonymity said Thursday that Ballestra had been offered the option of paying $200 compensation to the woman to drop the complaint, but Ballestra refused.
