American Charged With Child Prostitution
The accused faces up to 15 years in prison under a new law against trafficking and sexual exploitation. (19 September 2008)
Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday charged an American manwith the purchase of a child for prostitution, for alleged sexual relationswith a 13-year-old girl. Jason Baumbach, 40, is accused of paying school fees for thegirl in exchange for sex, a crime that carries up to 15 years in prison under anew law. Deputy Prosecutor Sok Kalyan said Friday Baumbach wascharged under Article 34 of the "Law on Suppression of Human Traffickingand Sexual Exploitation," which prohibits sexual conduct with a minorwhile promising or providing money or anything of value to a minor orguardians. Baumbach was arrested at his Tuol Kork home on Tuesday. Cambodia has been working to improve a tarnished image as ahaven for pedophiles and sexual predators, and a US State Departmenttrafficking report issued earlier this year said authorities had made someprogress toward combating the crime. At the home of the girl, in a rundown apartment building inPrampi Makara district, parents declined to be interviewed Friday, but theyshowed reporter a picture of their daughter, who is now under the protectivecustody of a non-governmental organization. Teng Manet, the lawyer of the family, alleged Friday the girl would visit Baumbach to receive money for school and would be invitedinto his room, where she was raped. Brig. Gen. Bith Kimhong, head of the Ministry of Interior'santi-trafficking and juvenile protection department, said Friday that policehave arrested seven foreigners and 13 Cambodians since January on suspicion ofpedophilia. Of the foreigners, three were American and arrested in Phnom Penh and four were from other countriesand arrested in the beach resort town of Sihanoukville.