JAKARTA: A Canadian administrator was jailed today for 10 years for sexually abusing children at an elite Jakarta international school, despite the institution and parents’ pupils strongly backing his claims of innocence.
In a courtroom packed with supporters, Neil Bantleman, who also holds British nationality, was found guilty of abusing three young boys at the Jakarta Intercultural School, which has for decades been favoured by expatriates and wealthy Indonesians in the capital.
Also standing trial for abusing the children is Ferdinand Tjiong, an Indonesian teaching assistant at the school. A verdict on his case was to be handed down later today.
Both men have strongly denied committing abuse, and received backing from the school, parents and the international community. Their supporters have said the case is deeply flawed and motivated by a bid by one alleged victim’s family to get compensation from the school.
After a nine-hour session reading the verdict at South Jakarta District Court, presiding judge Nur Aslam said that Bantleman was guilty of abusing the children between January 2013 and March 2014.
“The defendant did not admit his crime or express regret for his deeds, nor did he apologise for what he did, which psychologically damaged underage children,” she said.
He was sentenced to 10 years in jail and ordered to pay a fine of 100 million rupiah (US$7,700). Prosecutors had sought a 12-year term.
Bantleman said he would appeal the verdict, sparking applause and clapping from his supporters in the court, mostly parents from the school.
The abuse scandal, which started in April last year, rocked Jakarta’s expatriate community. As well as accusations against Bantleman and Tjiong, cleaning staff have been jailed over child rape and the school admitted previously employing a suspected serial paedophile as a teacher.
However, the focus soon shifted from the alleged abuse at the school – formerly known as the Jakarta International School – to what supporters say was an unfair attempt to target Bantleman and Tjiong by Indonesia’s notoriously corrupt police and judicial system.
Supporters have accused police of a botched investigation, and point to unfair trials, which the judge closed to the public as they involved children. The court was open to the public for the reading of the verdicts.
He also received support from foreign embassies, which helped found the school.
The prosecution insists that the testimony of the alleged victims, all boys, is the truth and that their claims are backed up by evidence from medical examinations.
However, the defence argues the medical exams were flawed and that there was a lack of evidence proving the men’s guilt.
The men have said that the decision to prosecute them revolved around a separate lawsuit filed by the family of one of the alleged victims, which demands US$125 million in compensation from the school. --AFP