Australian gets 10 years in jail accused of child sex crimes

An Australian man who worked as an English teacher at a private school in the Cambodian capital has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing seven boys, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Photo: Australian gets 10 years in jail accused of child sex crimes

Damien Walker, 26, of Melbourne, was also ordered to pay US$3,000 ( Ђ 2,400) to the victims' families, said prosecutor Kry Sok Y.

Walker was convicted Monday of taking pornographic pictures of minors and of debauchery, the legal term in Cambodia for sex acts involving minors.

"The boys were street children," said Kry Sok Y. "He found them in the parks along the riverside and then took them home under the guise of watching videos."

Walker was arrested in December after a child rights group alleged that he had been paying boys US$5-US$10 ( Ђ 4- Ђ 8) for sex.

Walker confessed to having sexual relations the boys, aged from 10 to 14, but claimed it was always consensual, said Kry Sok Y, reports the AP.

I.L.