A 26-year-old man was tried yesterday by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over allegations that he posted naked photos of his ex-girlfriend to his Facebook account in an act of revenge after she left him for another man.

Presiding judge Svay Tonh said financial consultant Chheang Engly was charged with “distributing naked photos” and “blackmail”.

Engly’s ex-girlfriend, Morm Sophea, 21, filed a complaint against him after he allegedly posted photos of her on the internet.

Srey Many, deputy prosecutor at the court, said the couple had met in September 2014 and used to meet for trysts at guesthouses in Kampong Cham province and Phnom Penh, where the images were taken.

Sophea later broke off the relationship and married, after which Engly grew angry and decided to take revenge. “He [Engly] had shared the victim’s naked photos with his friends and they were seen by thousands of people,” Many said.

Sophea claimed that Engly had threatened her multiple times, saying he would publish the photos if she did not meet him for sex. “He threatened me, saying if I did not come to meet him, he would distribute my naked photos to the public and post them on Facebook,” she said.

Kean Dara, Engly’s lawyer, said he had closely studied the nude images and determined that “the face was hers, but the body was someone else’s”.

A verdict is due to be handed down on December 21.