Cambodia's Most Wanted Child Rapist Convicted of Fraud, Abuse of Power and Child Rapes

Phnom Penh – The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has delivered a historic verdict for children’s rights and protection in the cases against former Sovann Komar Executive Director, Mr. SOTHEA Arun, and his accomplices Mr. HUN Chenda, Ms. THAY Sinoun, and Ms. UNG VEASNA Nimol. Mr. SOTHEA Arun has been convicted of rape of two children, fraud, intentional violence with aggravating circumstances related to the victims, and food deprivation, and negligence of care of minors under the age of 15. Mr. SOTHEA Arun was sentenced to 22 years in prison in total.

The convictions for the rape cases and abuse case were announced in court on 3 May 2023 and the conviction for the fraud case was announced in court on 22 March 2023. Written judgements were recently released by the court.

Rape Cases

Mr. SOTHEA Arun was convicted of the rape of two young girls from Sovann Komar. He was sentenced to 8 years for each rape case. For one of the rape cases, Mr. SOTHEA Arun must pay damages of 60,000,000 KHR (sixty million) riels to the victim whom was raped repeatedly starting from the age of 6 years old.

Abuse Case

Mr. SOTHEA Arun was sentenced to four years for committing child abuse at Sovann Komar. Mr. HUN Chenda and Ms. THAY Sinoun, two foster parents at Sovann Komar, were sentenced to three years each, and Ms. UNG VEASNA Nimol, another foster parent, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. The convictions for Mr. SOTHEA Arun, Mr. HUN Chenda, Ms. THAY Sinoun and Ms. UNG VEASNA Nimol are for the intentional violence with aggravating circumstances related to the victims. Mr. SOTHEA Arun was also convicted of food deprivation and negligence of care of minors under the age of 15. The court ordered Mr. SOTHEA Arun, Mr. HUN Chenda, Ms. THAY Sinoun, and Ms. ENG VEASNA Nimol to jointly pay for damages in the amount of 200,000,000 KHR (Two hundred million) riels.

Fraud Case

Mr. SOTHEA Arun was sentenced to 2 years for fraud. His accomplices, Ms. POV Sreymom, the wife of Mr. SOTHE Arun, and Ms. CHEAT Chan Morokot, the former accountant of Sovann Komar were each sentenced to 18 months for fraud. The three defendants have been ordered to pay US$1,462,349 in damages to Sovann Komar.

Mr. SOTHEA Arun and his staff were found to have abused the children of Sovann Komar, while he lived an extravagant lifestyle paid for with the stolen money from Sovann Komar that was designated for the support of orphaned and abandoned children.

During his time with the NGO, Mr. SOTHEA Arun built a large villa with a $22,000 swimming pool and KTV room using NGO funds. He also used donor funds to personally purchase property and invest in several business ventures. Mr. SOTHEA Arun built up a real estate empire during the time of the massive fraud at Sovann Komar included ownership of luxury villas, a rubber plantation in Mondulkiri, and land in many provinces across the country. He used employees and assets from the NGO to tend his properties, and his family's personal Facebook profiles show photographs of luxury living, including pool parties for certain favored children at his massive villa.

The investigation uncovered instances of horrific physical abuse with stories emerging of children hung from ceiling fans and two boys intentionally deprived of food for three weeks, as well as sexual abuse of 6 year old children and various staff members engaging in sexual activity with children. The abuse took place over a period of many years and Mr. SOTHEA Arun, with the skills of an accomplished con man and cult leader, took many steps to hide the crimes.

"We believe justice has been served by the decisions of the Phnom Penh Trial Court and applaud the actions of many Cambodians within the government who recognized Mr. SOTHEA Arun’s behavior and the behavior of his accomplices had crossed the line. Children cannot protect themselves from predatory behavior like this and we believe the convictions are just and appropriate. We hope these cases will raise further awareness to be vigilant and protective of children." said Bradley J. Gordon, the legal representative of Sovann Komar. "Cambodia experienced 30 years of civil war and genocide and has a special responsibility to take care of its children. These horrific criminal acts needed proper justice and I believe the court’s results are essential for the society to show it is in recovery mode from the trauma of the past. The case of the two boys starved for three weeks by Mr. SOTHEA Arun and his accomplices and the 6 year old girls being raped by him will haunt us forever and should never have happened and should not happen again. This verdict is just the beginning. There is still much work to be done to protect children, especially with respect to the need for protections for children in Cambodia, to prevent such horrific crimes from happening again. We have a strong commitment to work with the Cambodian government to ensure better protection of children in Cambodia."

Sovann Komar is a non-profit orphanage in Phnom Penh, founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Ross Johnson, to provide a safe and nurturing home for children in need. Over the years, it has cared for approximately 55 children.

"We want to thank the Cambodian authorities, especially those who were champions for children’s rights," added Bradley J. Gordon. "We also want to thank our staff, volunteers, and supporters who have bravely and strongly committed to protecting the children of Sovann Komar and to speaking up in court about the crimes that occurred. Many have taken great personal risks in the face of an intense campaign of witness tampering by Mr. SOTHEA Arun’s

camp and various death threats received over the last few years. The Johnson family's support has been instrumental in responding to the crimes we discovered at Sovann Komar.

At this time, Mr. Sothea Arun and his accomplices still remain free despite the convictions issued by the court.