By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Long Beach
31 July 2009

Thirteen years ago, Christopher LaPel, a Cambodian pastor for the Golden West Christian Church in Los Angeles and a founding leader of the Cambodian Christian Church in northwest Cambodia, baptized a man he believed to be a teacher in Battambang province.

In fact, the newly converted was Kaing Kek Iev, better known as Comrade Duch, chief of the Khmer Rouge’s torture center, Tuol Sleng. Duch is now facing trial at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, where he has admitted to responsibility for mass torture and killings.

In a recent interview with VOA Khmer, LaPel described his relationship with Duch, who at the time called himself Hang Pin.