Police have detained a Vietnamese-American man who purportedly bought sex from a 15-year-old girl in a city in southern Vietnam. Officers in the southernmost city of Ca Mau arrested Tieu Van Luan, 56, on Tuesday for an investigation into charges of “sexual intercourse with juveniles” pursuant to Article 256 of the Penal Code. If indicted, Luan will be jailed for up to 15 years as the heaviest penalty for this offense.  Luan settled down in the U.S. in 1980 but returned to live in Ca Mau several years ago, police said, adding that he is now the owner of the Best CM Hotel, the largest hotel in the city.  Also being held is a 39-year-old woman, Lam Thi Chau, who allegedly acted as a broker for Luan to buy sex from the minor, named Thanh, according to news website Dat Viet (Vietnam Land).   Chau is the owner of a restaurant in Ward 9 of the city. These arrests were made after police received a report from Thanh’s mother, who accused Chau of holding her daughter in the restaurant for prostitution and demanding VND7 million (US$323) from the underage girl’s family as payment for Thanh’s debt. Chau had forced Thanh to sell sex to many wealthy men, including Luan, investigators said. After verifying the testimony from Thanh and several witnesses, investigators said they have enough evidence to prove that Luan bought sex from Thanh twice and paid VND500,000 ($22.9) each time through Chau, Dat Viet reported Police are investigating the case further.

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