A video of an event in Cambodia which has led to the arrest of ten people including at least five Britons shows women twerking on bar stools and licking each others breasts.
The group was arrested on Thursday at a rented villa in the tourist hotspot of Siem Reap and have appeared in court charged with ‘producing pornographic pictures’ at a night for backpackers.
Cambodian authorities are understood to have taken offence at the Lets Get Wet event allegedly organised by some of the group, where a Twister-style ‘sex position game’ is said to have been played.
An online video, which shows an event of the same name in February last year, shows women flashing their breasts and twerking in bikinis on bar stools.
It also shows scores of drinks lined up on a bar as shots tumble into them like dominos, before revellers pile in and grab them.
A video of a previous ‘Lets Get Wet’ pool party in Cambodia shows girls flashing their breasts as young men look on laughing. The same event this year led to arrests by the country’s so-called ‘morality police’
The footage from last year’s event shows nudity and drinking by a swimming pool
A police statement say 77 tourists were brought to police station, with most of them being ‘educated and freed’, while 10 ‘organisers’ were held, The Phnom Penh Post reported.
The mother of one of five Britons among a group says she is ‘in pieces’ after speaking to him on the phone from his prison cell.
The detained group also includes Canadian citizen Eden Kazoleas, 19, who was described by her aunt as ‘a very, very good kid’ who doesn’t drink or smoke.
Speaking from her home in Wadhurst, East Sussex, Marci Harbour, 47, mother of Billy Stevens 21, told MailOnline: ‘We are just in pieces, and the frustrating part is that we don’t really know what to do.
‘My son had been working so wanted to go out and spend his money like any other young man. He had become good friends with the group he was with, as you do when you are travelling together.’
It came as the five British men arrested insisted they were ‘innocent’, claiming they are not even pictured in the ‘pornographic dancing’ pictures.
It has also been suggested by the mother of one of the men that those arrested were pressured into a confession by the Khmer authorities.
Pictures posted on social media show Mr Stevens lying on a bean bag surrounded by three women with their legs wrapped around him and another man.
His mother said: ‘He was doing nothing wrong, just having a good time and a drink. That’s what he said when I managed to speak to him on the phone.
‘The embassy has been in touch and we are hearing more from them tomorrow. It is terrible to think of him being stuck out there and completely innocent.’
Police posted a picture of the ten defendants lined up outside court, dressed in casual summer clothing. The photo is understood to include Britons Billy Stevens (left), Paul Harris (fourth from left), Daniel Jones (centre in white T-shirt) and Vincent Hook (fourth from the right)
Police released these pictures which they claim show the tourists. However, a member of the group currently being held insists do not show any of those arrested
In a separate interview with the Daily Mail, she said: ‘We’re all devastated by this. It’s dreadful.
‘I’ve managed to speak to him but he’s had his phone taken off him now. We’ve been advised not to say anything at the moment because obviously they’re out there and we don’t want to make it worse for them. There’s a lot of us parents on it and I’m in touch with them but it’s difficult.’
Another mother, whose nationality is not known, claimed the men were told to sign court documents in the Khmer language without the help of a translator.
She said she had lost contact with her son by Sunday afternoon and was trying to liaise with the parents of others in the group for further news.
She said: ‘They are scared out of their brains. They just did what they were told in the hope they (Khmer authorities) would say ‘oh, well we’ll get you all to sign these papers and nothing will happen’. They’ve signed these papers not knowing what they are.’
The mother of one a New Zealander arrested insisted that her son hadn’t disrespected the country’s morality.
The five Britons among a group of five people charged in Cambodia over a Twister-style ‘sex position game’ include Daniel Jones, 30, (left, with an unknown woman) and Billy Stevens, 21
Vincent Hook, 35, who is one of the men arrested by police after a raid on a villa in the tourist hotspot of Seim Reap
Among those detained was Eden Kazoleas (pictured), 20, from Drayton Valley, near Edmonton, Alberta. Her aunt, Donna Kazoleas, said the detentions were ‘really, really concerning’
Vicky Malden’s son Paul Brasch, 32, is being held at Siem Reap jail. She says he was cooking sausages and steak on the barbecue when he was arrested.
She said she last spoke to him at 1am this morning – adding: ‘He was pretty inconsolable. I mean, he can be a bit of a rebel I suppose, but he’s just a guy. He loved Cambodia.
‘He loved the culture, he loved the people. In fact, I was pretty sure I’d lost my son to Cambodia because he loved it so much. He’s just devastated, he can’t believe what’s happening.
‘They weren’t disrespecting the morality of the Cambodians and their religion or anything. It was in a private res, it was a ticketed event, the tickets were sold. There were around 80-100 tickets sold for the event. It was a type of pool party.
‘What happened was – they came, they call them the morality police, 30 of them. Originally they arrested 70 of them and then ten were arrested from the bunch.
‘At that time my son was cooking sausages and steak on the BBQ so it’s kind of weird the whole situation. We are trying to make sense of it.
‘They originally were detained for three days at the Cambodian police station. They slept on the floor. The police were very good to them, they gave them pizza, they treated them well. They can’t say they were treated badly.
She added: ‘I am desperate to have him back. A few of them are just children. They are just kids, having fun… we just want them home.’
Two of the men who were arrested in Cambodia. The man on the left is thought to be Daniel Jones
Other pictures showed the group using their phones at a police station in the resort
The mother also said her son told of an arrested woman being pressured by Khmer authorities to confess that she was pictured in a photo, which he described as depicting a young woman bending over and exposing her breast. She repeatedly denied the photo was of her.
‘I’m getting to the stage where I’m just laughing about it… I’m just so damn tired. I haven’t slept since this all started. I’m worried about their state of mind,’ she said.
Among the eight men and two women arrested were Britons Vincent Harley Robert Hook, 35, Daniel Richard Leeming Jones, 30, Thomas Alexander Jeffries, 22, Billy Stevens, 21, and Paul Francis Harris, 32.
Also detained were Dutchman Job Robertus van der Wel, 22, Canadians Jessica Drolet, 25, and Eden Koazoleas, 19, along with Norwegian David Nikolaus Aleksandr Ballovarre, 22, and 32-year-old New Zealander Paul Martin Brasch.
The group were charged yesterday as prosecutors warned that they could face a year in jail for a ‘breach of Cambodian traditions’.
These photographs were taken at the Lets Get Wet event, which police raided on Thursday. However, it is not clear whether any of the people seen were arrested
In Cambodia, it is illegal to make pornographic images under the country’s 2007 Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
Most of the men are believed to live in the Asian country and could face up to six months behind bars before the case comes to court.
Police released images appearing to show clothed and laughing tourists, some in sexually suggestive positions, at the party before Thursday’s raid.
Some 30 officers are believed to have stormed the venue in what is regarded as a crackdown on inappropriate behaviour.
Up to 90 revellers were initially detained but all but ten were released. The party is believed to have been hosted by an events group called Let’s Get Wet.
A poster for Thursday’s gathering advertised tickets for £5 on the door including a free drink. Photographs of previous parties show women in tiny bikinis and revellers drinking in a pool.
One of the group later said they were confused because none of them featured in the alleged sexual pictures.
The man, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: ‘Honestly, it was really confusing. Everyone was confused. They raided, rounded us up, there were about 80 to 100 people at this party, some of them were tourists. There were about 30 of them [police officers].’
Their families were ‘worried sick’, he said, adding: ‘Our parents are doing what they can. It’s really just trying to keep a good vibe until we know the outcome.’
The alleged offences took place near to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, in the north west of Cambodia
Among those detained was Eden Kazoleas, from Drayton Valley, near Edmonton, Alberta.
Her aunt, Donna Kazoleas, told CTV: ‘Eden is a very, very good kid. She is very outgoing. She doesn’t smoke. She doesn’t drink. This is really, really concerning.’
Samrith Sokhon, the prosecutor of the Siem Reap provincial court, said the group could face up to a year in prison if convicted.
‘Any people producing pornography is contrary to Cambodia’s traditions,’ he said.
One prisoner said they were at a villa party barbeque on Thursday at 4pm local time when police started to pluck people out of the crowd.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, they said: ‘We’re innocent. We don’t know why we’ve been arrested – we’re getting different stories from different people.’
Another prisoner said they saw one man vomit in shock after being taken by police.
The group are believed to have been sleeping on the floor of an office at a police station in Siem Reap for three days, but have insisted they have been treated well by their captors – saying officers were friendly and had brought them pizza.
Events group Let’s Get Wet has used a series of other racy photos to publicise previous parties. Mr Hook, who attended Weymouth College according to his Facebook profile, features in one image wearing just trousers and earphones as women lie on floats in a pool below. Above him a poster reads: ‘Girls dress as boys, boys dress as girls’.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement: ‘We are assisting five British men arrested in Cambodia and are providing support to their families.’
A local authority spokesman added: ‘The competent authorities are preparing a case to submit to the provincial court.’