A private English tutor in Battambang province has confessed to repeatedly molesting multiple female students as young as 6, following his arrest at the home of one of the girls on Tuesday, an official said on Wednesday.
Yos Sophany, 50, was apprehended around noon on Tuesday when he came to pick up an 8-year-old student from her house in Sampov Loun district’s Santepheap commune, where the suspect also lived and worked, according to district police chief Pich Saren.
“We arrested Mr. Sophany after finding out that he committed indecent acts against his students,” he said.
Mr. Saren’s deputy, Ly Rom, said Mr. Sophany was not an accredited teacher and would charge parents about 30,000 riel (about $7.50) per month to tutor their children in English at his home.
“He taught about eight to 10 students, both male and female,” he said.
Mr. Rom said district police received a call from the parents of the 8-year-old after the child refused to leave with Mr. Sophany on Tuesday for fear that he would “touch her” again.
“She told them that she was afraid the teacher would touch her —as he has done repeatedly in the past,” he said, adding that the girl’s parents made Mr. Sophany wait at their home until police arrived.
Mr. Rom said that under questioning, Mr. Sophany admitted to molesting all of his female students.
“He confessed to playing with his female students—sometimes indecently—during his class, outside class time and sometimes in the bathroom of his home,” he said.
Mr. Rom said that while he was interrogating Mr. Sophany, the parents of a 6-year-old student came to file a complaint against the tutor, their daughter in tow.
“I also questioned the girl, and she repeated exactly what the tutor had told to me earlier,” he said, adding that Mr. Sophany was transferred to the custody of provincial police on Wednesday.
Born Vannara, chief of the provincial police’s anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection bureau, said the suspect would be sent to the provincial court today.
