Cambodian court sentences 77-year-old Briton for sex abuse

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – A provincial court in Cambodia on Friday sentenced a 77-year-old British man to 18 months’ imprisonment on charges of sexually abusing three boys.

Roy Sheppard was sentenced for indecent acts committed against three boys 12 to 16 years old, said Yin Srang, a spokesman for the court in the northeastern province of Siem Reap.

Action Pour Les Enfants, a private group that fights sexual abuse of children, said Sheppard was arrested in October after complaints were received from the boys’ parents. It said it was unclear if he would serve his sentence, since he was at large after being released on bail for health reasons.

Poverty and poor law enforcement have made Cambodia a magnet for foreign pedophiles, but the government has cracked down on sex offenders in the past decade.

Sheppard was also ordered to pay a total of 12 million riel ($2,900) in compensation to the three victims and be deported from Cambodia after he finishes his sentence, Action Pour Les Enfants said in a statement.

On Tuesday, a court in the capital, Phnom Penh, sentenced an American businessman to 10 years in prison in the sexual abuse of nine underage girls.

Brian David Naswall was convicted on charges of paying for child prostitution for sexual abuse of the girls, ranging in age from 5 to 15 years old, from 2011 to 2015.

Naswall, 53, is the CEO of Aero Cambodia, a small aviation company based in Phnom Penh.