siem reap town – Facing a possible 20-year stint in a Cambodian prison for “debauchery,” 53-year-old Swiss national Rudolf Knuchel said his arrest here for allegedly having sex with minors constituted police entrapment based on fabricated stories by boys who stole his bicycle.
“It’s definitely a set-up,” Knuchel said Friday in an interview at the newly-built Siem Reap provincial prison.
Provincial police and staff members of the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center, however, deny there was a premeditated plan to catch one of Siem Reap’s most prominent expatriates, who they say they have long suspected of pedophilia.
Knuchel, owner of Swiss Center d’Angkor and former manager of the Grand Hotel d’Angkor, maintained the police arrest at 12:30 am Jan 26 was a well organized and calculated “Nazi-style bust” involving children who acquiesced with authorities to frame him. “The police were waiting outside my center since 9 o’clock in the evening,” he said.
According to Knuchel, he was watching a World War II documentary on television when two boys staying at the restaurant/business center started to wander in and out of his room with just their underwear on.
“I was disturbed by their constant coming and going and I started to wonder what they wanted from me,” said Knuchel, who adamantly denied he is a pedophile.
Knuchel said children have always visited his center where he has installed a room where they can watch TV. He said he has taken in impoverished boys in efforts to do his part to help Cambodia.
But he claimed the two boys found in his house by police were involved in the “sting” operation because of a personal grudge against him stemming from a complaint he made to police last year against three boys for allegedly stealing his bicycle.
Lon Deka, Siem Reap penal police office chief and head of the investigation, however, said Friday the operation against the Swiss restaurant owner was not a set up.
Police were aware of Knuchel’s activities for a long time but did not have enough evidence to act against Knuchel who has made powerful friends in Siem Reap town, Lon Deka said.
Lon Deka maintained Knuchel was arrested when a police patrol heard shouts for help from his center. He said police entered the complex and found Knuchel undressed with an 18-year-old boy in his room and a 14-year-old waiting outside.
“There were two boys. One boy started to shout when he saw the activity in the room,” said Lon Deka.
After Knuchel was brought in for questioning, police received permission to search the house and found pictures of teen-age boys in their underwear posing in “sexy positions,” said Lon Deka, adding computers were also seized.
Lon Deka confirmed that three German journalists who were investigating Knuchel entered the house the night of the raid but denied they were lying in wait.
“They went to the house by themselves. I have no idea how they found out,” said Lon Deka.
Chanthol Oung, executive director of the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center, said the crisis center started investigating Knuchel last November after receiving a tip from Terre Des Hommeo, a German anti-child abuse group. Six underage boys who claimed they had sex with the suspect have been introduced to police, she added.
“There are many more cases in Siem Reap, but Rudolf we decided to do first. He did it more openly,” said Chanthol Oung. She said that Siem Reap police were prompted to act by Minister of Women’s Affairs Mu Sochua.
Ung Sophea, monitoring officer for the crisis center, said Monday that the German journalists and center staff investigating Knuchel entered the house some 15 minutes after police arrived.
“The police just called us and we followed afterwards,” said Ung Sophea. The journalists have since given the court videotaped evidence and photographs from the raid, said Lon Deka.
Photographs taken during the raid show Knuchel, clad only in a krama, in his room with one naked boy and a second boy in his underwear.
According to Lon Deka, several boys are willing to make statements that Knuchel had a sexual relationship with them.
Tan Senarong, the Siem Reap court’s investigating judge for the case, said Friday that Knuchel was charged under Article 8 of the law on human trafficking and prostitution.
Under the law anyone convicted of “acts of debauchery” with a minor—even if they are consensual—faces a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years.
Under Article 8, Cambodian law determines that it is a crime for any person to commit “debauchery onto a minor person of below 15 years old, even though there is his [or her] consent. Article 3 of the law also defines a minor as being under the age of 15.
According to Tan Senarong, Knuchel refused to answer questions without a lawyer. A human rights worker said Monday that Knuchel now has a Phnom Penh-based lawyer working on his behalf.
After the arrest, the Siem Reap court issued a search warrant and a mobile telephone and computer equipment was seized.
“We do not have experts to analyze this computer yet,” said Tan Senarong. But he added that Swiss authorities may provide experts to help analyze the information.
The police also seized alcoholic drinks which Knuchel is alleged to have given boys before having sex with them.
The director of a local NGO who has known Knuchel since 1993 when he was the manager of the Grand Hotel also said Friday that many young boys lived and visited his home regularly.
Some boys lived full time with Knuchel but groups of their friends would visit his home after school to sing karaoke and drink lemonade and eat cake, said the woman.
According to the woman, “bad” children took advantage of Knuchel by regularly stealing things from the house when they visited.
Dr Beat Richner, founder of three children’s hospitals in Cambodia, said Sunday the revelations if true are a tragedy for Cambodian children.
Also a Swiss national, Richner said that the Swiss flags decorating Knuchel’s business should be removed as they are an affront to the Swiss people who have donated $9 million to the health of Cambodian children. Richner said also there will be need for future psychological support for the boys if they were abused.
Local business people in Siem Reap say Knuchel is a likable man despite the rumors that surrounded him.
“He always gave tips to my staff,” Y Dara, manager of the Angkor Continental Guesthouse, said Friday.
However, expatriates in town did not frequent his restaurant because of the rumors Knuchel was a pedophile, according to a Belgian man who has worked in Siem Reap for two years.
[The restaurant] was always empty. Expats did not want to go there much because of his reputation….This is no big surprise,” said the Belgian of the arrest.
(Additional reporting by Matthew Reed)
