Pleas Entered for 3 in US Child Sex Tourism Case

Three US men accused of traveling to Cambodia to have sex with children have pleaded not guilty in a court in Los Angeles to federal child sex tourism charges, according to media reports.

Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 49, Erik Leonardus Peeters, 41, and Jack Louis Sporich, 75, entered their pleas Monday in federal court, The Associated Press reported yesterday.

The charges were the first to be made under ?Operation Twisted Traveler,? a joint program between US departments of Homeland Security and Justice that specifically aims to prosecute US sex tourists who travel to Cambodia to abuse children. The maximum penalty in the US for child sex is 30 years in prison.

Seila Samleang, country director for Action Pour Les Enfants, whose child protection organization participated in the investigations of the three US men prior to their removal from Cambodia last month, said the young victims in the case were currently being readied to give evidence in court

?We are in the process of assessing the victims if they need to testify against the three men in the US court,? Mr Samleang said. ?We expect to be invited but I don?t know when and I still have no idea who will be invited or how many victims,? he said.

The Associated Press reported that the three men are being held without bail and have been schedule for trial in federal court on Nov 10.

Following the US government?s removal of the three child sex suspects from Cambodia, child protection workers expressed hope that the operation would have a significant impact on deterring sex offenders from targeting Cambodia.

Patrick Stayton, field office director for the International Justice Mission, a US anti-pedophile organization that collaborated in the investigation into Boyajian, said it was not uncommon for suspects to plead not guilty upon their initial hearing in court.

?[Their plea] is not a ground-breaking development in the case,? he said. ?It just means it is on course.?

Sourced = The Cambodia Daily