A DOCTOR who paid for sex with girls as young as nine has been jailed for five years in Cambodia.
Clive Cressy, 70, from Hove, was found with a sickening suitcase full of Barbie dolls, tiny dresses and girls’ shoes, mixed in with his collection of condoms and lubricant.
The physician was arrested at his apartment in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh along with his Vietnamese wife, 27, who procured vulnerable youngsters for him.
He was found guilty at a court in the city on Thursday, where prosecutors said he had paid up to $3,000 – £2,400 – to his victims to have “unlimited sex” whenever he wanted.
The girls he preyed on lived with Cressy and his wife and were aged between nine and 13, the court was told.
Prosecutors said Cressy had moved to Cambodia in 2015 before starting a job as an English literature teacher at a private school.
He claimed that he and his wife Chea Sokthy, 27, “adopted” the four young Vietnamese girls, all from poor rural families, to educate them and give them a better life.
But while living at their apartment, Cressy paid each victim to “have sex with them any time he wanted” while his wife received $1,000 – £790 – for each girl she recruited.
Police rescued the four traumatised girls from the Phnom Penh apartment when it was raided and Cressy arrested on April 27, 2017.
Cressy’s wife initially went on the run but was re-arrested in June this year. She denied any knowledge of his actions but was found guilty.
Presiding Judge Thlang Phaneth jailed Cressy for five years but the victims might appeal what their lawyers regard as a light sentence.
Judge Phaneth said: “The court has jailed each of the suspects for five years. They will be deported from Cambodia after they are released.
“Clive Cressy is guilty of the purchase of child prostitution and Chea Sokthy is guilty of soliciting child prostitution.
“He paid his young victims between $2,000 and $3,000 to allow him to have sex at whatever time he felt like it.’’
The two defendants must also pay a total of $12,000 in compensation, which will be split between the four victims.
Welcoming the guilty verdict, prosecutor Sorn Sony branded Cressy a predator who had deliberately targeted the young girls.
But Mrs Sony said the sentence of five years was too light.
She said: “I laud the court’s verdict.
“But I think the sentence is too light and does not fit the crime.
“I do not know whether my clients will accept the sentence or will appeal for a heavier one.”
