22 Oct, 2010
PHNOM PENH — A Cambodian court has sentenced a former Buddhist monk to 17 years in jail for secretly filming two teenage girls as they bathed naked at a temple, a prosecutor said Friday.
Net Khai, 37, was arrested and stripped of his religious status in June for allegedly taping more than 600 women pouring sacred water over themselves and then sharing the footage via mobile phones.
Since then several women have come forward to press charges, including two who were under the age of 18 at the time of filming.
A Phnom Penh court on Thursday handed the ex-monk the jail term for producing and distributing pornography of two underage girls, prosecutor Plang Sophal told AFP.
The court also ordered Net Khai to pay 50 million riel (11,800 dollars) in compensation to each of the two victims.
"The sentence will serve as a key message to educate both ordinary and religious people in our society to stay away from such activities," the prosecutor said.
Net Khai already received a one-year sentence last month for producing and distributing pornography in a case involving a 23-year-old victim.
He is expected to face at least one further lawsuit.
Buddhist monks are revered in Cambodia, where Buddhists make up more than 90 percent of the population.
There are more than 55,000 monks across the country, which has 4,300 temple complexes.
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