- Michael Glyn Jones, 55, is accused of paying an 11-year-old girl £3 for sex
- Also accused of abusing three others and purchasing girls for prostitution
- He denies charges, saying he only bought them treats 'to be a good guy'
A British man accused of paying an 11-year-old girl for sex in Cambodia claimed he had only taken her to a cinema because she was poor and had been begging for money.
Michael Glyn Jones, from South Wales, appeared in a court this week accused of sexually abusing four girls, purchasing youngsters for child prostitution and committing indecent acts against a minor.
The 55-year-old has been photographed by police and a child protection group walking hand-in-hand with one young girl and sitting with a number of others, one of whom was on his lap.
He was arrested in June after the children's mothers lodged complaints about the alleged abuse.
Accused: British paedophile suspect Michael Glyn Jones walks hand in hand with an 11-year-old girl who is accused of having sex with in Cambodia. He claimed in court that he had only taken her to the cinema
The 55-year-old was photographed by police and a child protection group sitting with other young girls (above), one of whom was on his lap. He appeared in a court this week accused of sexually abusing four girls
Judge Ly Sokleng said Jones stood accused of having sex with an 11-year-old girl and then paying her and her mother £3.
He was also accused of molesting three other girls aged between seven and nine.
Jones denied the charges and claimed he had taken the younger girls, who had been begging for money, to eat ice cream, the Cambodian Daily reported today.
Referring to the 11-year-old, he said he had taken her to a movie theatre.
'I just gave the girls one to two dollars when they asked me for it,' he told the court.
'I took them to have ice cream and then brought them back,' he added, referring to an area outside a casino.
The Daily reported him as telling the court in Phnom Penh: 'I'm just a tourist.'
In reference to giving money to the girls, he added: 'I wanted to be a good guy. I have money - they do not have money.'
Jones was remanded in custody to appear in court again at a date to be arranged.
Allegations: Jones has been accused of molesting three other girls aged between seven and nine
Outside the court, Mr Chhuon Sithann, a lawyer representing the four girls, said Jones had taken the three younger children to an area under a bridge where he molested them.
The 11-year-old, he said, was assaulted in the cinema.
When Jones was arrested, police and the child protection charity Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) released photos of him walking hand in hand with the 11-year-old and other pictures showing him with young children.
He was said to have taken at least one underage girl to a rented room in the city on several occasions and was seen hugging and kissing her in public.
Photos also showed him with half-dressed eight and nine-year-old girls and with a younger child nestled against his lap.
The 11-year-old girl was said at the time to have told investigators that she was paid the equivalent of £3 for sex after being taken to a rented room three times by a man.
According to APLE, Jones had been staying in a Phnom Penh hotel but had also been renting a separate room, to which he had returned on several occasions with the 11-year-old.
The child protection group said that after being 'rescued' from Jones, one of the children was sent to a secure shelter while the other three remained on the street with their families.
If convicted, Jones faces up to eight years in prison.
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