Australian arrested for child sex in Cambodia

Cambodian police have arrested an Australian man on suspicion of paying for sex with underage girls over a number of years.

The suspect, identified by police as Michael John Lines, 52, was arrested on Thursday.

He is accused of having sex with two girls, now 17, said Major-General Bith Kimhong, the director of the interior ministry's anti-trafficking unit.

One of the girls was now the man's fiancee, General Bith Kimhong said.

"He has been committing the offences for four years," he said, adding that police suspected he had abused many children.

He said Lines would appear in court later Friday to be charged with "buying sex from children".

Dozens of foreigners have been jailed for child sex crimes or deported to face trial in their home countries since Cambodia launched an anti-paedophilia push in 2003 in an attempt to shake off its reputation as a haven for sex predators.

- AFP