By George Bao Aug. 1, 2016
LOS ANGELES – A California man who was found guilty of traveling to Cambodia to have illicit sexual conduct with young girls aged 8 to 11 was sentenced Monday to 70 years in federal prison and $40,000 restitution to a victim.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Monday that Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 55, who previously resided in Menlo Park, Los Angeles and has spent time on the Palos Verdes peninsula, was sentenced by United States District Judge Christina A. Snyder.
At the hearing, Judge Snyder observed that “the conduct was extremely serious.” In imposing the maximum sentence, the court stated that it is “obvious that the reason for the sentence is for the protection of the public and to deter such behavior in the future.”
Following a six-week trial earlier this year, Boyajian was found guilty of three child exploitation crimes – traveling to Cambodia with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a nine-year-old girl in Cambodia, and committing these offenses while being required to register as a sex offender under California law.
Boyajian was arrested by the Cambodian National Police (CNP) in February 2009, while he was on his 35th trip to Asia over a nine-year period.
Boyajian began traveling to Cambodia shortly after completing his parole following convictions on 22 counts of illegal sex with a minor and oral sex with a minor in 1995.
“Pedophiles will not escape punishment by crossing international borders to sexually assault children,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker.
“After being convicted of sexually exploiting two children here in California, this defendant tried to evade justice by traveling to Cambodia to victimize even younger children. As today’s sentence demonstrates, however, if you travel anywhere in the world for sex with children, the U.S. Department of Justice will be tenacious in prosecuting you and pursuing justice for the young victims of this hideous crime.
Four victims whom Boyajian had sexually assaulted testified against him at trial. Each girl was between 8 and 11 years old when Boyajian purchased them from their mother and grandmothers to sexually abuse them. One victim, who was approximately 8 when Boyajian assaulted her, testified at trial that “he was abusive, he was cruel, he treated me like I wasn’t even human.”
At a hearing last week, the four testifying victims appeared before Judge Snyder. The youngest victim, who is now approximately 16 years old, asked for a strong sentence: “I would like the court not to allow him to leave prison because there are possibly other children out there who could be harmed, just like it happened to me.”
Boyajian paid pimps and relatives from impoverished families to gain access to his victims, which he preferred to weigh less than 70 pounds.
While the attacks took place in the village of Svay Pak – a notorious destination for pedophiles from around the world, the victims were Vietnamese immigrants who lived in the poor community.
A CNP anti-human trafficking officer testified at trial that Svay Pak was well known as a place where foreigners went to have sexual contact with females, often young girls. Boyajian went to Svay Pak to have “unlimited access to young girls for sex,” prosecutors said in court.
“Given the defendant’s age, this prison term amounts to a life sentence and assures no more children will be fall prey to this serial pedophile,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles.