A BRITISH teacher has avoided jail despite being found guilty of sexually abusing a five-year-old girl he taught in Cambodia.

Mark Smith, 40, was the vice principal of Golden Bridge International School, in Phnom Penh, when he took the young student home and molested her.

4 Mark Smith, 40, was found guilty of molesting a five-year-old girl, but dodged jail time.

The married father-of-two, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, received a two-year suspended jail sentence after he was found guilty of ''committing indecent assault with aggravating circumstances''.

He was fined five million Cambodian Riels (£885) at the hearing at Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Khoem Vando from Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), which worked on the case, said "sufficient evidence was found to justify the arrest of Mark Andrew Smith".

Smith moved to Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2007, where he started working at Smart Kids International School.

4 Smith worked as the vice principal at the school Credit: Viral Press

4 The teacher was given a two-year suspended sentence in Cambodia

In August 2014, he moved to Phnom Penh to work at the Golden Bridge School as its Vice Principal.

Speaking in handcuffs outside court with his wife and child after he was arrested last year, Smith said: ''Innocent 100 percent, okay, innocent 100 percent.

"It's a disgrace. This is my family, this is my family, I have two kids, [this is an attempt] to break up my family, and I didn't do anything.''

The allegations surfaced on Cambodian radio in July when the host was discussing the case of British paedophile Clive Cressy, a doctor arrested for abusing girls.

4 Smith was fined five million Cambodian Riels (£885) at the hearing at Phnom Penh Municipal Court Credit: ViralPress

The female radio host gave details of the alleged abuse by Smith, claiming the parents were too afraid to make a complaint. Police later followed up the case and arrested Smith.

He was arrested while leaving the school for the day and held in custody on suspicion of sexually abusing a five-year-old girl at the school where he worked.

Speaking after the verdict yesterday, APLE Executive Director Seila Samleang said: ''It is a grave concern to observe the growing incidence of child sexual abuse in private schools, orphanages and child welfare organisations over the last few years."

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''The situation is alarming and effective measures must be put in place to stop the problem.

"The lack of child safeguarding procedures at schools, for instance, and the fact that these institutions fail to conduct proper checks on their employees, can be the main factors which allow abuse to happen and persist.''

Last month, retired British businessmen Leslie Peter Henman, 63, and David Malcolm Brock, 65, were arrested in Cambodia, accused of molesting dozens of underage boys by luring them to play in their swimming pool.