US paedophile gets 10-year term

Photo by: AFP
Michael James Dodd, 60, is escorted by police from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday.

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Chrann Chamroeun

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday convicted and sentenced American national Michael James Dodd to 10 years in prison on charges of purchasing child prostitution from a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl and ordered him to pay 20 million riels (US$4,824) in compensation.

Presiding Judge Chan Madina convicted Dodd, 60, under Article 34 of the Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

The court also convicted and sentenced Chan Pallay, 40, the mother of Dodd's victim, to 10 years in prison as an accomplice to human trafficking under Article 4 of the anti-human trafficking law.

Dodd, from Washington, was arrested in October last year after police raided his rented home in Daun Penh district, where he was discovered with the 14-year-old Vietnamese girl as well as a second girl, age 13, from Cambodia.

Uk Phourik, Dodd's defence attorney, said the verdict was unjust and that his client would appeal the conviction.

Peng Maneth, who represented the Vietnamese girl, said Dodd still faces charges for his involvement with the 13-year-old Cambodian girl, adding that a hearing in that case would follow pending further investigation.