Dutchman arrested in Cambodia for child porn photos

Cambodia arrested a 53-year-old Dutchman while he was photographing naked boys by a lakeside in a village in northwestern Siem Reap province on Tuesday, according to an anti-pedophile agency's media release on Wednesday.

Police identified the suspect as Saraot Evrard Nicolas, a tourist to the province.

According to the Siem Reap Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Unit, seven victims, aged between 11 and 15 years, have so far confirmed abuse.

Child protection NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), which assisted police in a probe leading to the arrest, said in the press release that during the arrest, police found and seized a digital camera and an iPad from the suspect.

"Preliminary search by police discovered numerous sexually explicit pictures of boys which confirmed the crime," the press release said.

It said that the suspect often lured boys into a quiet place and asked them to perform erotic poses for one to four U.S. dollars.

He also offered in-kind support to some of the boys.

"It was not known yet when the Dutchman came to live in Cambodia, but he seemed to be able to speak adequate Khmer to communicate with the boys," the press release said, adding that "he frequented the village and managed to establish close contacts with some of the local families whose boys were among the victims found."

The arrest marked the third foreign man arrested in child abuse cases in Cambodia this year, the press release said, adding that all of them committed sexual offences against boys.

The Southeast Asian country launched an anti-pedophile operation in 2003 in a bid to end its reputation as a haven for child sex offenders. Since then, dozens of foreigners have been imprisoned for child sex crimes. Enditem