Stephen John Loryman, 57, lured boys aged nine to 13 to his flat in Phnom Penh

A British former headmaster has been jailed in Cambodia after he sexually abused boys aged nine to 13 and paid their parents to let them stay with him.

Stephen John Loryman, 57, lured the children with gifts of food, mobile phones and bicycles to his apartment in the capital Phnom Penh.

He provided the poverty-stricken victims with English lessons, books and stationary.

But the predator, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was using the apparent kindness as a way to sexually abuse the youngsters, assaulting them and forcing them to perform sex acts on him.

Officers received a complaint about Loryman and raided his apartment on November 25 last year at 1pm.

They found Loryman engaged in a sex act with one of the boys while three others looked on.

Officers received a complaint about Loryman, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, and raided his apartment on November 25 last year at 1pm (pictured, Loryman was discovered with four young boys)

Police go through Loryman's possessions during his arrest in November - he was found guilty last Friday of 'committing sexual acts against minors under 15'

A total of six victims were identified with five telling police they had been abused by the teacher.

Loryman was found guilty last Friday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court of 'committing sexual acts against minors under 15'.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, three months of which were suspended, and he was ordered to pay compensation of £1,200 to two child victims and fined £620.

He was also banned from Cambodia for three years following his jail term.

Child Protection worker Vando Khoem from Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), a charity that was involved in catching the paedophile, said they were first tipped off about his crimes in September last year.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, three months of which were suspended, and he was ordered to pay compensation of £1,200 to two child victims and fined £620 (Loryman pictured in November)

He added: 'I applaud the order of "ban on stay" by the court. This allows safer space for children in the community.

'However, stronger collaboration between relevant stakeholders across the country, region and globe is necessarily needed to address child sexual abuse and exploitation in travel and tourism.'

Loryman was a former teacher and then deputy head at Eastwood Primary School in the town of Keighley in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

He previously volunteered with a Christian mission in Sierra Leone since 2006 with a charity called Mission Direct.

In 2012 he self-published a bizarre fiction book called 'Kissy Boys' which tells the story of a child 'abducted from his home and destined to be used for body parts or as a sacrifice in a ritual'.

The predator then moved to Cambodia where he started teaching and voluntary work while targeting young boys.

Lieutenant Colonel Lal Lin, the chief of the child protection department in Phnom Penh, said last November that the suspect had been renting a plot of land in the Khan Chbar Ampov district before his abuse came to light.

Officers monitored him for two weeks while gathering evidence.

Loryman in a social media post, in 2012 he self-published a bizarre fiction book called 'Kissy Boys' which tells the story of a child 'abducted from his home and destined to be used for body parts or as a sacrifice in a ritual'

Loryman was a former teacher and then deputy head at Eastwood Primary School in the town of Keighley in Bradford, West Yorkshire

Lieutenant Colonel Lal Lin said: 'On November 25, 2018, at 12:30 am, the suspect brought four boys to his rented home. On suspicion, the police reported to the Deputy Prosecutor requesting to check the above rental address.

'In monitoring and with the cooperation of relevant authorities, police found that there were four children with the suspect, and the police followed the procedure and brought the suspect and four children to the department for questioning. His computer was also seized.'

Speaking after the verdict, Loryman's defence lawyer Bun Chan Heng said: 'The Council of Judges sentenced him to 15 months in jail but three months were suspended. I have no further comment because it is the discretion of the judges.'