Lismore teacher sent back to Cambodian prison

FORMER Lismore teacher says he is innocent of charges he indecently assaulted boys in Cambodia.

A supplied undated image obtained Thursday, February 27, 2020 shows accused Australian pedophile Garry Mulroy who has been hospitalized from prison for diabetes. Mulroy has spent the past year in Siem Reap Prison after he was accused of prostituting six boys aged between 11 and 14. (AAP Image/Supplied by Ross Milosevic) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

ALLEGED Australian pedophile Garry Mulroy has been sent back to a Cambodian prison after a legal mix-up resulted in judges deciding not to make a ruling an annulment of his charges.

Dressed in prison orange, Garry Mulroy, from Lismore, was clearly disappointed after an overnight drive in a prison van from northwest Siem Reap to the capital, where he had hoped the charges would be dropped.

"I am innocent, yes," he told AAP outside the court on Friday. "What irks me is the boys, they have lost an opportunity for an education and life in general."

Mulroy's case won the attention of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison after an independent report commissioned by the defence found no evidence to support the charges and that Mulroy was the victim of an extortion bid amid petty rivalries among foreign-run charities.

 

Garry Mulroy (in orange) is seen before a court hearing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 6, 2020. Mulroy is accused of molesting boys between ages of 11 and 14. (AAP Image/Craig Alexander) NO ARCHIVING

 

The 64-year-old former Trinity Catholic College schoolteacher had attempted to establish an NGO called Education House with six children who police later alleged he had procured for sex in exchange for food and money.

However, the report, by risk management consultant Ross Milosevic, including affidavits from people who knew the children, found no evidence to support the charges and that police interviews were made "under extreme duress, intimidation and extortion".

"I can honestly say these boys were never abused by the accused. The boys honesty and demeanour showed no attitude that they were ever mistreated or abused sexually in any way," a witness says in the report.

The Investigative Chambers of the Phnom Penh Appeals Court was to rule on two submissions: to annul the charges amid defence claims of a lack of police evidence, and on follow-up interviews with witnesses.

Mulroy's lawyer So Mosseny said the court would rule only on witness testimony but was then told this could not be done because an investigative judge had not conducted all requested interviews.

He said the annulment hearing was postponed at a date to be determined.

A trial date for charges he sexually abused boys under the age of 15 has been set for March 24 in Siem Reap.

AAP JAC