British Teacher MATTHEW WILLIAM WATKIN Arrested; Accused of Sexual Assault in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Posted: Thu May 21, 2020 11:42 am
Cambodia News (Siem Reap): On May 20, 2020, the police of the department of human trafficking and minor protection arrested a British national, MATTHEW WILLIAM WATKIN, 37 years old, a teacher at GLOBAL school, after allegations that he committed sexual assault on two young girls in Siem Reap.
Matthew Watkin is a British national from Shrewsbury, England, born on April 17, 1983. It is not clear by the visas in his passport that have been made public when he first entered Cambodia, but on June 19, 2018 he applied for a 1-year visa extension that expired on June 19, 2018. His visa for the next year has not been made public, but on December 25, 2019 he was granted another visa extension, this time for 6 months, which expires next month, on June 24, 2020. His British passport was issued on May 30, 2018 and will expire on February 28, 2029.
Lieutenant Chea Heng, director of the Department of human trafficking and minor protection, said that on March 18, 2020, a 38-year-old woman, Prel Sareth, filed a complaint against the British man for assaulting her two daughters, aged 13 years old and 17 years old.
After receiving the complaint, the police submitted the case to the prosecutor to lead an investigation. Then, on May 20, 2020, the British man was called in for questioning. He reportedly said that the two girls were his wife's nieces who were living with his wife and himself. He asked them for massages, kissed their foreheads, and rubbed his beard on their face, but he didn't have sex with them.
After questioning, Mr. Kert Vannareth, the prosecutor of the Siem Reap court, ordered Matthew William Watkin's arrest and the suspect has been detained for case preparation following the legal procedure.
Matthew Watkin is a British national from Shrewsbury, England, born on April 17, 1983. It is not clear by the visas in his passport that have been made public when he first entered Cambodia, but on June 19, 2018 he applied for a 1-year visa extension that expired on June 19, 2018. His visa for the next year has not been made public, but on December 25, 2019 he was granted another visa extension, this time for 6 months, which expires next month, on June 24, 2020. His British passport was issued on May 30, 2018 and will expire on February 28, 2029.
Lieutenant Chea Heng, director of the Department of human trafficking and minor protection, said that on March 18, 2020, a 38-year-old woman, Prel Sareth, filed a complaint against the British man for assaulting her two daughters, aged 13 years old and 17 years old.
After receiving the complaint, the police submitted the case to the prosecutor to lead an investigation. Then, on May 20, 2020, the British man was called in for questioning. He reportedly said that the two girls were his wife's nieces who were living with his wife and himself. He asked them for massages, kissed their foreheads, and rubbed his beard on their face, but he didn't have sex with them.
After questioning, Mr. Kert Vannareth, the prosecutor of the Siem Reap court, ordered Matthew William Watkin's arrest and the suspect has been detained for case preparation following the legal procedure.
