Australian travel agent, Trevor Lake, 65, arrested in Cambodia for allegedly having sex with underage girls and filming himself in the act

• Adventure travel expert Trevor Lake is in a Cambodian police cell awaiting formal charges on child sex offences
• Police say Lake, 65, paid two girls aged 16 and 17 for sex and filmed himself in the act
• Police allegedly seized laptops and cameras
• Lake was operating in the town of Siem Reap, the tourist gateway to the world heritage listed ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat
• Lake has been tourist guide in Southeast Asia for 28 years

Daily Mail | 7 August 2014

A 65-year-old Australian who is the manager of a large South-east Asian adventure travel agency has been arrested for allegedly buying sex from two underage girls and filming their sex acts together in the Cambodia city of Siem Reap.

Trevor Lake, of Sydney, was arrested following an investigation by Cambodia's anti-human trafficking police squad in tandem with the anti-paedophile NGO, Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE).

APLE administration chief Vando Khoem told Daily Mail Australia Trevor Lake's came to their attention light after one of the alleged victims, a girl aged 16, made contact with NGO's ground staff in Siem Reap.

Australian Trevor Lake (pictured, with a tiger) is the country manager for Trails of Indochina Tours and an Asian travel expert with almost three decades' experience, but when a young girl approached anti-paedophile group APLE in Siem Reap, the north-west Cambodian tourist mecca which acts as the gateway to the world renowned ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat, they began investigating. Police allege 65-year-old Lake rented an apartment and filmed himself having sex with two teenage girls aged 16 and 17

Sydney travel agent Trevor Lake, 65, has been working in the south-east Asian tourism industry for 28 years and was acting as Cambodian country manager for Trails of Indochina when police arrested him (pictured) in the tourist town of Siem Reap. Under Cambodian law it is illlegal to pay for sex with someone aged under 18.

The picturesque town of Siem Reap (above), where Trevor Lake was arrested, has turned from a sleepy village into one of the world's great tourist attractions because it is the gateway to the ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat.

Siem Reap lies in Cambodia's northwest and is the tourist gateway to the World Heritage ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat, which date back to the 12th century.

Mr Khoem said Lake, who works for Trails of Indochina as the Cambodian country manager, had been under investigation since late July.

Cambodian law rules that it is unlawful to pay for sex with a person under the age of 18, he said. 

'He rented an apartment in Siem Reap,' Mr Khoem said.

Old Asia hand: Trevor Lake, 65, of Sydney (pictured working in Asia) has spent almost three decades working in the region. Following a two week investigation, police arrested him in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap

Toruist mecca: as the map from Trails of Indochina, the company for which accused paedophile Trevor Lake worked as Cambodian country manager shows, the tourist gateway town of Siem Reap where visitors to the ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat stay, has become so popular it is now possible to fly directly in

Sok Sam, Siem Reap provincial deputy police chief in charge of anti-trafficking, told The Cambodia Herald officers had arrested Lake on Tuesday.

'We arrested him today in Siem Reap City’s Svay Dangkum district after we in­vestigated him about a week ago,' he said. 'We are questioning him, so we cannot talk about details of the case.'

Mr. Lake’s LinkedIn page, which depicts a photograph of him with a tiger, lists him as the former manager of Discover Asia and says he has links to south-east Asian tourism going back 28 years.

APLE said police searched Lake's apartment and seized two laptops, three cameras and two external hard disks.

He said the two alleged victims were receiving counselling and that APLE was helping the girls and their families.

Lake is in police custody and will soon be transferred to Siem Reap Provincial Prison once formal charges are laid.

Mr Khoem said he would likely face trial in the Siem Reap court in six to 12 months.

APLE is one of several NGOs operating in Cambodia since the government began a concerted effort a decade ago to crack down on child sex offenders, resulting in the many arrests of foreigners on juvenile sex charges.

Trails of Indochina in Siem Reap told Daily Mail Australia it had terminated Lake's position.