Cambodia charges two Germans with child abuse

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia charged two German men today with sexually abusing girls aged between 13 and 15, the latest prosecutions in a long push to rid the country of its reputation as a haven for foreign paedophiles.

Phnom Penh Judge Ke Sakhan named the men as Henning Karl Opitz, 60, and Thomas Von Engelhardt, 42, and said both were arrested in August on suspicion of abusing four girls in the capital.

After the pair appeared in the witness box to hear the charges, the judge cleared reporters from the court to protect the identity of the victims, some of whom were in tears as they sat outside the court waiting to be called as witnesses.

German diplomats and child rights activists also attended the hearing.

Opitz was also charged with human trafficking in conjunction with two Vietnamese women, the judge said without giving details.

Under Cambodia's "debauchery" law, sexual abuse of minors carries between 10 and 20 years in jail.