US policeman charged with sexually abusing girl in Cambodia

An American police officer from San Francisco, California has been arrested and charged with sexually abusing a girl in Cambodia, officials said Monday.

Photo: US policeman charged with sexually abusing girl in Cambodia

Ngeth Sarath, a prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said that on Sunday he formally charged Donald Rene Ramirez, 50, with debauchery for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old ethnic Vietnamese girl.

Debauchery, a Cambodian legal term for sexual offenses against minors, is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

Police arrested Ramirez on Thursday at his rented apartment in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, said Keo Thea, chief of the city's police unit that fights human trafficking.

The American had been seen bringing the girl into his apartment but has denied allegations of sexual abuse, the prosecutor said, reports AP.

"He is a policeman, so it is not easy for us to get him to talk," Ngeth Sarath said.

The prosecutor said police also arrested the girl's mother, who allegedly provided the girl for Ramirez.

Last week, 46-year-old Myron Maboris from the U.S. was also charged with debauchery after his arrest for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl.