The Phnom Penh Municipal Court Friday sentenced two German men and two Vietnamese women to prison for sex crimes committed against four Vietnamese girls.
Karl Heinz Henning, 61, charged with human trafficking and debauchery, was sentenced to 28 years in prison. Police caught him bringing under-aged girls into his apartment complex.
Thomas Sigwart Eugen, 42, was also handed a 12-year prison term for sex crimes. A videotape showing Eugene having sex with two young girls was confiscated from Henning, the Associated Press reported.
Cambodia is a known haven for pedophiles, where general lawlessness often prevails and prostitution is rife. Since 2003, more than a dozen foreigners have been jailed or deported to face trial in their home countries for child sex crimes.
The two Germans worked as private English teachers in Cambodia.
A lawyer for the victims, Samphon Sopharoth, said the sentencing was light, considering the violent nature of the crimes.
During sex the girls’ “hands and feed were bound,” she said.
A lawyer for the defense said he planned to appeal.
The two Vietnamese women acted as sex brokers for the two men and received 15 years and 17 years in prison.
“Today's action shows that the court has made a good decision,” Ny Chariya, a human rights worker for Ad Hoc, said. “Now we dare to sentence people who practice debauchery, human trafficking and sex crimes."