The plot thickens. Last week we had an apparently straightforward case of a rougue orphanage manager (see here). I must admit that in hindsight the allegations were a bit lurid. Now we have counter-allegations:
Centre head denies child abuse
The director of a children’s centre who was arrested on Tuesday based on complaints from the NGO’s principal donor yesterday denied the accusations of forced labour and child abuse that led to her detention, and maintained that her accuser was actually at fault.
Soy Srey On, 23, said in an interview from the Chbar Ampov district police station that donor Chloe Flanagan had hit her because she was angry that Srey On tried to stop her and her boyfriend from staying at the centre on a visit to Cambodia.
“They come home each night in a drunken manner. She hit me with a book on my head last week,” Srey On said.
“Because the donors asked me to stay [at the NGO] … and they came without prior notice, so I didn’t allow it; they started to get angry towards me.”
Srey On said she had filed her own complaint to police but no action had been taken.
“As the head of an organisation, I am an educator who provides a good example to the kids.
I could not do anything that makes kids follow a bad example,” she added.
Srey On and her boyfriend, Ung Sras – who is wanted by police – are accused of neglecting the children’s hygiene, hitting them with sticks and even having sex in front of them.
Four children were removed from the centre on Tuesday.
Ministry of Social Affairs official Em Chanmakara said in a message yesterday that a nanny at the NGO had been called in for questioning, and that “hopefully tomorrow all documents [related the case] will [be] sent to the court”.
The police could have some work ahead of them. But I’m wondering: running this centre must cost a lot of money, so who and where are the donors?
Philip J Coggan 