After spending nearly three weeks in jail, Cambodia’s first known Internet pornographer on Sunday was deported back to the US, officials confirmed.
US embassy officials escorted Dan Sandler, author of the “Rape Camp” Web site that pictured local prostitutes in graphic and often violent poses, to Pochentong Airport on Sunday to “ensure his rights were protected,” said US Ambassador Kent Wiedemann.
Authorities allowed Sandler to take his computer equipment, which had been impounded since his mid-October arrest, Wiedemann said. The ambassador noted that Sandler could be investigated when he returns to the US to determine whether he broke US law, but that the decision rests with law enforcement officials there.
Last month, Sandler said he had closely studied US laws and designed his site in a way that would not violate them. He noted, for instance, that he planned to untie models prior to photographing them performing certain sexual acts, because of US regulations.
Police said Sunday that Sandler will not be welcome again in Cambodia. “His passport was stamped by police to ban him from coming back,” Don Penh Police Chief Pol Pithey said.
Sandler, 35, was arrested by Phnom Penh police when Women’s Affairs Minister Mu Sochua filed a complaint alleging he violated Cambodia’s human trafficking and pornography laws.
He maintained that the models were paid for their services and participated of their own free will, and that his business could have generated tax revenues for the government.
(Additional reporting by Adam Piore)
