Assistant ICE Attaché Gary Phillips, right, poses with embassy award recipients, from left, Andrew Simpson, Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli, Yarong Van, Sarin Vann and Vansak Suos.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently honored the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh with an award for its assistance in prosecuting Americans accused of sex crimes in Cambodia. Under the PROTECT Act, which became effective in 2003, Americans traveling abroad to engage in illicit sexual conduct with minors can be prosecuted. The first successful prosecution under the act resulted in a 97-month jail sentence for an individual who had engaged in sexual activity with two minors, ages 10 and 13, in Cambodia.

Since then, there have been three additional successful prosecutions of Americans under the PROTECT Act for child sex crimes in Cambodia, while three other Americans await trial in U.S. prisons. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh’s regional security office staff played a crucial role in coordinating the efforts of U.S. and Cambodian law enforcement in these cases—an example of the embassy's work to prevent trafficking in persons and protect human rights.

The award was presented June 1 by Bangkok-based Assistant ICE Attaché Gary Phillips. Accepting on behalf of the embassy were Chargé d'Affaires Piper A.W. Campbell and Vansak Suos, security investigator with the embassy’s regional security office. Embassy Regional Security Officer John P. Davis and Assistant RSO Andrew Simpson also received awards. In an additional ceremony on June 5, three Locally Employed staff members of the embassy’s security team – Yarong Van, Sarin Vann and Vansak Suos – also received awards.