Erik Peeters Gets 22 Years for Cambodia Child Abuse

Erik Leonardus Peeters, 48, of Norwalk, California, is headed to federal prison for 264 months — nearly 22 years — after admitting to traveling to Cambodia and sexually abusing at least five impoverished and vulnerable boys, some with physical disabilities. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder, includes lifetime supervised release and $15,000 in restitution to his victims.

Peeters pleaded guilty in March 2012 to two counts of engaging in illicit sexual contact with minors in a foreign place. Court records show he arrived in Cambodia in April 2008 and within weeks began preying on destitute boys, exploiting their desperation and lack of protection. His crimes came to light after Cambodian National Police arrested him in February 2009 for violating local child protection laws. He was extradited to Los Angeles by August that same year.

At yesterday’s sentencing, four of Peeters’ victims — now young adults — faced their abuser in court, recounting years of fear, trauma, and social ostracization. “I’m fearful, and I’m still ashamed,” one survivor said, his voice cracking under the weight of memory. Their testimony painted a harrowing picture of manipulation and abuse, inflicted on children already struggling to survive in one of Southeast Asia’s poorest regions.

“The seriousness of this offense and the devastating impact the sexual assaults had on the victims cannot be overstated,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “This defendant is a sexual predator who repeatedly victimized young boys, several of whom have physical disabilities, and all of whom come from deeply impoverished communities in the developing world.”

Peeters isn’t new to crime of this nature. Years before his trip to Cambodia, he was convicted in Los Angeles County for lewd and lascivious conduct with boys under 14. Despite that record, he slipped through the cracks and traveled overseas to reoffend — a pattern federal authorities are increasingly cracking down on through initiatives like Operation Twisted Traveler, under which Peeters was prosecuted.

The investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with critical support from HSI attaché offices in Bangkok, Phnom Penh, and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh. Joseph Macias, special agent in charge of HSI Los Angeles, emphasized that Americans who think they can evade justice by abusing children abroad are dead wrong. “Tough U.S. laws will ensure they pay a high price,” he said. Peeters is the third and final defendant sentenced in Operation Twisted Traveler, all charged under the PROTECT Act, which targets American pedophiles exploiting children overseas.