Briton charged with abusing Cambodian boys

PHNOM PENH, Jan 23 (Reuters) A Cambodia court today charged a British man with sexually abusing two brothers aged 12 and 14, prosecutors and police said.

Paul Ian Bower, 42, of Nottingham, who works as an English teacher, denied the charge, which carries a jail term of between 10 and 20 years.

''I like to be alone and watch T.V.. I did not like anybody at my house. But the boys begged me, they begged me all the time,'' Bower told Reuters at the Phnom Penh court where he was charged.

''They slept at my house, but on separate beds.'' Under the Cambodian judicial system, Bower could spend up to six months in detention while an investigating judge probes the charge.

Reuters DKA DB1209