A Criminological Perspective on Child Abuse in Cambodia

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In the article titled “Canadian suspected on sex abuse of young boys tries to kill himself as Cambodia police came for arrest” (http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/24/c
Anadian-suspected-in-sex-abuse-of-young-boys-tries-to-kill-himself-as-cambodia-police-came-for-arrest/), a shocking story is reported of a Canadian man who attempted to commit suicide after Cambodian police moved to arrest him on allegations of child-sex (Humphreys, 2014). The alleged offender, whose name has not been released to the media, is a resident of Montreal, Canada.
Suspicions escalated after child protection workers, employed by Cambodian group Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), received a tip on February 20, 2014 from a non-governmental organization in the Siem Keap area of Cambodia. Led by APLE, the resulting investigation consisted of interviews with six boys, aged 10 to 14 years of age, two of whom initially admitted to having experienced and been victims of sexual abuse.
While searching for the location of the identified suspect, APLE workers witnesses the individual leading four young boys into a forest. However, by the time police arrived on scene, the suspect had disappeared into the trees. The four boys were subsequently taken to the police station for questioning, upon which three boys admitted to experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of the suspect. With testimony from the three boys, an arrest of the Montreal man was ordered.
On February 23, three days after the initial tip was received by APLE, police carried out an arrest, attending the suspect’s temporary residence, a low rate hotel room. Upon his realization of what was happening, the suspect locked himself in his room and attempted to commit suicide, using a pocketknife to cut wrists and...

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...ication for punishment. It holds within it the concept of hedonism as an automatic attempt to “maximize pleasure and minimize pain” (Williams & McShane, 2014) as well as the belief that “the value of any pleasure or pain would be determined by its intensity, duration, and certainty” (Williams & McShane, 2014). The biggest difference between Canada and Cambodia in how the sexual abuse of children is dealt with lies in the levels of deterrence towards it. The implementation of strong laws along with consistent enforcement of those laws creates a high level of deterrence, which I believe is the most effective way in controlling crime.
As outlined in the article Cambodia has already began this process. As long as the Cambodian government is able to persevere and continue in their classicalist approach to law, rates of child sexual abuse throughout the nation will fall.

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