Rugh James Cline sexually abused four girls in Cambodia in 2019, U.S. federal prosecutors said. (Mugshot: General Commissariat of National Police)
A Florida attorney who spent years in a Cambodian prison for sexually abusing girls is now back in the Sunshine State for similar charges. Rugh James Cline, 40, was indicted on Feb. 25, 2021, on five counts of coercion or enticement of a minor female, and one count of activities constituting/containing child pornography.
“If convicted, Cline faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison for each count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, and up to 20 years’ imprisonment for possessing child sex abuse materials,” the United States Department of Justice wrote in a press statement dated June 26.
Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell of the Middle District of Florida set his jail release for that day but Cline had to submit to GPS monitoring, 24/7 house arrest (with exceptions for court, medical needs, and anything approved by the court), and a $100,000 signature bond, records show. He is not allowed access to the internet or to minors while on home detention, according to the DOJ.
Cline made his initial appearance back on June 7, records show. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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According to the DOJ, Cline, an attorney from Tampa, Florida, went to Cambodia, where he paid on various occasions to abuse a total of four minors (all girls, as indicated by charges). This happened in February and May of 2019. He also traveled from Florida to Cambodia while possessing child sexual abuse material, authorities said.
Cline was previously sentenced in Cambodia to two and a half years in prison, having been convicted there of paying to abuse three girls under the age of 15 in February and May 2019.
The defendant, a 2010 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, is delinquent on his fees, and is not eligible to practice law in Florida, according to The Florida Bar.
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