Police to name JIS rape suspects on Tuesday

JAKARTA. The Jakarta Police next Tuesday will name fresh suspects in the newest case of alleged sexual abuse at Jakarta International School (JIS), which has implicated three of the school’s teaching staff.

A boy whose parents filed a sexual assault report with the Jakarta Police against several teaching staff earlier this month is the third and latest victim from JIS to come forward.

The collation of evidence and statements regarding the newest case was almost complete, city police chief Insp. Gen. Dwi Priyatno told reporters on Friday.

“The investigators will analyze the findings. Hopefully we will be able to name the suspects next Tuesday,” Dwi said on the sidelines of an event commemorating the National Police’s anniversary.

Three JIS teaching staff — kindergarten and elementary school principal Elsa Donohue; curriculum development employee Neil Bantleman; and teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong — were questioned at the city police headquarters on Monday for 10 hours.

According to Dwi, the three denied sexually abusing students.

Additionally, Jakarta Police spokesman Comr. Sr. Rikwanto said that the three were defensive throughout questioning: “The teaching staff repeatedly denied raping any students and said they knew nothing of the accusations.”

However, he said, the police did not need their confessions in order to name them suspects.

“According to Article 184 of the Criminal Law Code, confessions are the lowest form of evidence. If there is other strong evidence, we will be able to name them suspects,” he added.

Last week, the police revealed that after intensive psychological counseling and treatment, the first victim at JIS, who was allegedly sexually abused by six outsourced cleaners, claimed to also have been raped by Donohue, Bantleman and Ferdinand in a school toilet and office.

JIS representatives have repeatedly denied the rape accusations, slamming them as slanderous and groundless.

The school even urged the police to investigate the parents’ motives as they had found many “irregularities”.

Through an official statement released on Monday, the school said that one of the victims’ mothers had sought to fake the results her son’s medical examination.

“One mother had her son checked for signs of abuse at a hospital in Singapore, but it found no signs of molestation. The mother is seeking to obtain a letter from a local hospital that will report different conclusions,” the school said in the statement.

The school added that the mother of the first victim, who had filed a lawsuit against the school management demanding US$13.5 million in compensation, suddenly increased the demand to $125 million after the new allegations against the teaching staff were revealed.

In response to the school’s statement, Rikwanto said that the investigation would prove whether the three JIS employees had been involved in the sexual abuse case.

“We’ll see. We will have to wait until the investigation is completed,” he said.

So far, the parents of three JIS boys have come forward and filed police reports claiming their sons were sexually assaulted.

The six ISS cleaners, one of which allegedly committed suicide while in police custody, have been named as suspects of sexual assault of the first victim.

The cleaners are scheduled to stand trial soon, their dossiers have already been submitted to prosecutors at the South Jakarta Attorney’s Office. (dwa)