A Change of Guard

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Wednesday 2 September 2009

U.S. snares 3 for sex with Cambodian children

LOS ANGELES (AFP)- U.S. authorities said Tuesday they have flown home and will charge three U.S. men accused of sexually abusing children in Cambodia, vowing renewed effort to stop U.S. pedophiles from heading there.

The three men, who were arrested by Cambodian police in February, arrived in Los Angeles on Monday ahead of an initial court appearance on Tuesday, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

The men each face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

"The men charged in this investigation apparently thought they could pursue their abhorrent desires by leaving the United States to prey on children in another country, but they were sadly mistaken," U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said in a statement.

The men include Arizona resident Jack Louis Sporich, 75, who is accused of sexually abusing at least one underage Cambodian boy.

Prosecutors, quoting a non-governmental group that spoke to witnesses, said Sporich would often drop money on the streets to attract children as he rode his motorbike through Siem Reap, the city near the famed Angkor Wat temple.

California resident Erik Leonardus Peeters, 41, was accused of having sex with at least three Cambodian boys, paying each minor between $5-10.

Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 49, also from California, allegedly engaged in sexual activity with a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, prosecutors said.

Officials said the arrests were the first under a new initiative launched dubbed "Twisted Traveler," under which U.S. federal authorities are working with Cambodian police and non-governmental organizations to prosecute pedophiles.

"These new charges clearly demonstrate to the Cambodian people that the United States will not tolerate this type of abuse," said Carol Rodley, the U.S. ambassador to Cambodia.

"These cases not only signal to the Cambodian victims our commitment to justice, but they will also act as a powerful deterrent for those individuals who are contemplating traveling to Cambodia to engage in illegal sexual activity with minors," she said.

Cambodia has struggled to shed its reputation as a haven for pedophiles, putting dozens of foreigners in jail for child sex crimes or deporting them to face trial in their home countries since 2003.

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