Rape conviction of Kandal man reduced to five years
THE Appea l Court on Tuesday ruled to reduce the sentence of Yim Sopheap f rom eight years in prison to five for t he agg ravated rape of t wo 10-yea r-old g i rls i n Ka nda l prov ince’s Tak hmao town in 2016.
The Tr ia l Chamber noted t hat a w it ness cla i ming to have seen Sopheap touching t he genita ls of t he t wo g irls had come for ward during his origina l t ria l in July 2017.
Sopheap’s defence law yer Im Mach said on Tuesday that The Kandal Prov incia l Court had cha rged his client wit h raping the girls, despite a lack of ev idence.
Mach argued that Sopheap’s charge should be reduced to sexual assault if he had penetrated the girls with his fingers rather than his penis.
He told The Post that the Kandal Provincial Court had ordered police to provide a medical letter but no such document was ever produced, even after the Appeal Court relaunched the investigation.
“We found no evidence of rape. Even though the Appeal Court ruled to reduce the sentence, my client will still not accept the five year sentence,” Mach said.
Provincial Court records said that Sopheap was renting a part of a home belonging to one of the victims’ adopted mother in Takhmao commune when the incidents occurred.
One of the 10-year-old victims said Sopheap had lured her with candy before dragging her into a storage room and molesting her on December 12, 2016.
“He did this five times. Each time he threatened me not to tell anybody,” she said in court records.
The mother, a noodle vendor, filed a police report after a teacher reported that the victim had come to class with a blood-stained skirt.
A second 10-year-old victim told police that the Sopheap had fondled her chest three times, the court record said.
Both girls’ guardians filed police reports on December 18, 2016, and police arrested Sopheap on December 24.
In June 2017, the Kandal provincial court sentenced him to eight years in prison for rape and ordered him to compensate each victim with three million riel ($750).