American paedophile jailed in Cambodia

A Cambodian court on Thursday sentenced an American man to 10 years in prison for paying for sex with a 12-year-old girl and for drug possession.

James Allan Morrow, 46, was also ordered to pay 10 million riel ($2,500) in compensation to the young victim along with a fine of five million riel, Judge Kor Vanndy at Phnom Penh Municipal Court told AFP.

Two Cambodian women were also jailed for two years each for acting as his accomplices.

Morrow was arrested in March at a guesthouse in the capital, where he was found in possession of 0.9 grams of amphetamines and 4.2 grams of marijuana.

Cambodia launched an anti-paedophilia push in 2003 to try to shake off its reputation as a sex predators' haven. Dozens of foreigners have since been jailed for child sex crimes or deported to face trial in their home countries.

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