Cambodian police are widening a crackdown on child sex tourism in response to mounting
international protests, including direct pressure from the Australian Government.

The moves, which led to the arrest of two Australians and a Briton accused of raping
children, have also seen the rescue of 15 children from Phnom Penh brothels in recent
weeks and the arrest of three Vietnamese men involved in the trafficking of children.

Australian officials and aid workers said the actions by Cambodian authorities had been
spurred by the response to articles in the Herald last month revealing that hundreds of
Australian men were travelling to Cambodia to have sex with children.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, said he was "appalled" by the disclosures, and
Australian diplomats in Phnom Penh were instructed to make representations to
Cambodian law enforcement officials.

A third Australian Federal Police officer is being posted to Phnom Penh to step up
surveillance of Australian tourists exploiting Cambodian children.

In the village of Svay Pak, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, where a mother offered a
Herald reporter two sisters aged 10 and 12, police have mounted several raids over the
past few weeks against brothels offering children to tourists.

In two separate raids, 11 and 14 young girls were rescued by police and taken to shelters.
Three Vietnamese men accused of supplying children to Svay Pak brothels have been
detained and face child trafficking charges.

Two Australian teachers arrested in Siem Reap earlier this month, Bart Lauwaert and Rex
Betteridge, both aged 35, have been charged with abusing several girls aged as young as
12 who were living with them. Their cases are not expected to be tried until later this year.