A man who was charged on Friday with raping a 14-year-old girl in Banteay Meanchey province confessed to previous attacks on children, but claimed he had bribed his way out of prosecution, provincial military police deputy commander Or Borin.
Van Phally, a 26-year-old mototaxi driver, confessed to luring the 14-year-old by telling her he would take her to her grandmother’s home but instead he took her to a guesthouse in Serei Saophoan district’s Kompong Svay commune where he allegedly raped her on July 5.
“The suspect confessed that he raped other girls too but he paid the police and was released,” Mr Borin said. “The suspect tried to give money to the military police but we absolutely denied him.”
Nuon Rattanana, director of the Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court clerks, said the suspect was charged with rape on Friday and is currently held in pretrial detention.
Born Vannara, deputy provincial police chief of the anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection unit, said that rape cases in Banteay Meanchey have increased this year. Mr Vannara said that a possible cause was worsening poverty which has caused parents to leave children at home in remote areas while they try to find work.
In an unrelated case, Battambang Provincial Court charged a 44-year-old man on Friday in the alleged rape of his 11-year-old stepdaughter, Judge Sa Oeurn Korsal Mony said.
“The suspect, the stepfather, has been raping the victim since 2009 and three more times this year,” Kamrieng district police chief Chhoeum Kimheng said on Friday, adding the suspect confessed to raping the girl while her mother went to work in Thailand and threatened to kill the girl if she told anyone.
He added that the suspect has been married to the girl’s mother for 10 years and at first, the mother did not believe her daughter rape claims but changed her mind after seeing her child physically ill.
