A Canadian national was arrested in Battambang on Sunday for allegedly having sex with a minor, anti-human trafficking police said yesterday.

Koy Heang, provincial director of the anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection unit, said that Vadim Scott would be sent to court today and charged with buying child prostitution for purchasing sex with a 14-year-old boy.

“We arrested him at 12:10am on Sunday, while a 14-year-old boy was sleeping with him. The man had slept with the boy already, but when we opened the door, the boy ran out,” he said, adding that Scott had been living in Thailand and only arrived in the country recently.

Scott is now in custody of the provincial police, said Heang, and was in touch with the Canadian embassy and finding a lawyer.

“[He said] he regretted what he had done, and that he thought that the child had reached the legal age,” added Heang.