Teacher Accused of Raping Students Transferred...To Another School!

There is something fundamentally flawed with a bureaucratic system that allows for a teacher that has been accused of raping primary school students to remain in the classroom pending a finalisation of the accusations. This is not a question on the presumption of innocence.

The alleged perpetrator of these sex crimes against children has the right to a presumption of innocence until such time as those charges are proven against him. However, common sense would demand that the individual be removed from the classroom and placed in a position where he has no interaction with children in the school environment or he is place on leave until the allegations are investigated and concluded.

Sadly, in South Tangerang, a male teacher, Y.P., was accused of having molested a number of primary school students at the Pondok Ranji 5 Primary School in Pondok Aren. He has since been transferred to Setu 3 Primary School which is also under the jurisdiction of the South Tangerang District Education Office.

There are a couple of problems with this. The most obvious being: why is this individual still in the classroom and still with access to children considering the serious nature of the allegations? And, what in the world is the South Tangerang District Education Office thinking when it states unequivocally where the teacher has been teaching immediately prior to the transfer and then goes on to say where that individual is now.

It is not beyond the realm of possibility here that in a country like Indonesia where vigilante justice goes hand-in-hand with more official forms of punishment that an angry mob could soon be descending on Y.P.'s new school.

I appreciate that there are procedures to be followed and the like because Y.P. is a civil servant, a government employee, but nevertheless it would make sense to remove the individual from the situation. But, the preferred option in this instance has been to transfer him to a different school, provide mandatory counselling and to put in place a more strict monitoring regime.

In the meantime, the South Tangerang District Education Office is encouraging the parents of all students who have been abused to make reports to the police.

Foreign Sex Tourism to Bali..

I read this the other day and sort of pondered whether to write about it or not. I pondered because writing about how the system fails so enormously might encourage pedophiles to chance their hand in the wild frontiers of child sex tourism that are the poor provinces of Eastern Bali. The most impoverished of the provinces; Singaraja, Buleleng, and Karangasem, are those that are most at risk.

Sadly, according to the report, it is predominantly Australians that are taking advantage of Bali's children and sexually abusing them. The reported figures are the tip of the iceberg as a great many of the outrages perpetrated against these children are never reported nor, if they are reported, ever pursued to prosecution. Nevertheless, this is not exclusively Australian perpetrators as there are offenders from all parts of the globe, including Europe (Germany, France, The Netherlands, to name but a few) and the US.

The problem though is not exclusively one of poverty, although poverty is a significant factor, but rather of apathy and corruption combined with an inordinate amount of red tape from a cumbersome bureaucracy that is not pro-active in protecting and supporting children who have been abused.

There were thirteen foreign pedophiles convicted of child sex offences in the period between 2001 and 2008. This does not seem like a large amount considering that there were more than 200 reported incidents of child sex abuse.  A local non-governmental organisation, Committee Against Sexual Abuse, estimates that there are some 150 pedophiles operating on Bali. It does not help that Singaraja does not yet record data relating to pedophiles or child sex crimes.

I appreciate that these crimes can be difficult to investigate and prosecute because not all children or their families are willing to report sexual abuse or suspicions of sexual abuse. I also appreciate that some families unwittingly sell their children into the sex trade in the belief that the "real" intent of the trafficker is to provide an education and a job. Then there are others who perhaps do this knowingly. However, what I cannot understand is why police would not want to investigate pedophilia in a more pro-active way considering that it is a known problem in the areas of Eastern Bali?

Although, in the big scheme of things I am probably less surprised than I should be that one can place a "price" on the violation of a child. Maybe it is just a simple case of everything has its price, and the price to turn a blind eye to the sexual violation of children in impoverished places is undoubtedly not that much.

Is the answer as simple as education and community outreach where men, women, and children are taught that it is not OK to be sexually abused in exchange for food or payment of one's school fees. There is no problem if someone wants to provide you food or fees for school as a gift, but this does not mean that you owe them the innocence of your children to pay off some alleged debt.

It would appear that the modus operandi is now one of "out of sight, out of mind" as pedophiles go further and further away from main urban areas in search of their victims.

What I do not get at the moment, and perhaps this is a lack of research, is why Australia is not more pro-active in pursuing Australian pedophiles wherever they may be found. Australia has laws on its statute books that provide for jail terms of up to 17 years and fines of up to AUD 500,000 for those convicted of child sex offences. The law has been drafted as such that the crime does not have to occur in Australia. The law simply states that anyone who engages in a sexual act with a child under 16 or grooms a child under 16 for sex is guilty of a crime, even where the offence is committed overseas.

The Australian Federal Police website includes a section on Child Sex Tourism and has forms to complete for those who have suspicions about Australians who may have committed a child sex offence overseas.

I am not sure what the point of this post is. It is an issue that bothers me and it is one that I think needs more attention. Perhaps, it is as a father of a young son I cannot fathom such an atrocity happening to him. Perhaps, it is because as an educator I feel a responsibility to ensure that children are safe and know what is acceptable and what is not, after all, our children are our future. Maybe, it is just that getting it out there will get us thinking about it and being more vigilant in our own worlds.

Ariel: The Farce Continues...

Wake me up when this trial is done and dusted, please.

I have been away for a little bit more than a week. It has been nice to not read a whole lot of news. It has also been nice to be away from an internet connection, and the temptation to see what frivolity came about in the latest trial hearing in the Peterporn saga. Yet, to be honest, I feel that seeing I started this "follow it through to the end" deal, I should in fact follow through. So, holiday or no holiday, I am back posting a running commentary on why this case should never have gone to trial.

The most recent reports have covered the testimony of Hadi Supeno, the former Head of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI). Supeno cannot be faulted for his commitment to protecting Indonesian children. He is most definitely, at least at face value, committed to seeing that Indonesian children are protected from all manner of harm. However, he is not much of a public relations whiz. He is not good at selling the message.

The primary problem for Supeno is that he talks in generalities and the grand schemes of things. He tends to downplay the "facts" or the "science" in preference for sweeping statements about how "he knows" what will harm Indonesian children and whatever he states must be accepted as is. Unfortunately, and perhaps beneficially for Ariel, no everyone does.

According to Supeno, there are four major impacts that children will encounter as a result of the release of the Ariel / Luna Maya and Ariel / Cut Tari sex tapes, namely: the videos will increase the sexual desires of children, the videos will effect the social and mental development of children, the videos will encourage children to replicate the behaviours they have watched, and the icing on the cake, the videos will lead to an escalation in the criminal activities of children.

Ah, evidence? Boy Afrian Bondjol, Ariel's lead lawyer in the case, questioned Supeno on the four assertions he made in court, and rightly so. Supeno could only offer up that "this" is what he knows. But, Pak Hadi, you really need to stump up some research. Surely, there must be some research that supports the proposition that children who watch pornography are more likely to commit crimes. Or that children who watch porn are more likely to become sexually active at a young age. Or that these increasing numbers of sexually active children are becoming rapists and sexual predators. Any research would do.

Seriously, if this is the best that the prosecution has to offer up as supporting evidence for their desire to see Ariel jailed for up to 12 years and fined a couple of billion rupiah, then one really does need to question the wisdom of bringing this case to court. There is no justice being served here. There is only a desire to deflect public attention from more serious criminal cases and matters that continue to flounder in the deep dark abyss that is the Office of the Attorney General.

Once again, the man made a sex tape...so what? If this "case" was dropped like it should of been then people would no longer be talking about it. So, for that reason alone, perhaps there are arguments here that the Office of the Attorney General and the courts are complicit in keeping this "morally questionable conduct" by Ariel in the public eye. Why would they want to be doing that?

Robby Shine Rapes a 13-Year-Old?

Robby Shine is an Indonesian actor. He is also allegedly responsible for the rape of a 13-year-old.

Shine was in Batam for an Indonesian Film Festival (FFI) event where he was scheduled to present. However, in his spare time leading up to the event, Shine hit the town and met up with a 13-year-old fan and decided that it would be a good idea to take her to a pub, load her up with alcohol, and then take her back to his hotel. It is at his hotel that he is alleged to have raped and sexually molested her.

Apparently, Shine had promised to make the girl famous. Irrespective of the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent trial, he has in fact made her famous. I would hazard a guess that this is not what the young girl, who has been identified only as "S", had in mind when she met Shine.

The police have stated that they have the testimony of the victim and CCTV footage from the hotel that presumably confirms that the girl was there. Once the girls parents found out about the alleged sexual assault, they immediately reported it to police. Shine was arrested at the Hang Nadim airport as he was about to board a flight to Jakarta.

The festival organisers have apologised for the controversy.

Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence until such time as they are proven to be guilty. However, if he is proven guilty and sentenced to prison, the treatment of child sex offenders in prison by other prisoners is notoriously bad. I might try and follow developments in this case, particularly whether it goes to trial and if it does, what the verdict is.

Trying this Digg It thing.

Photo courtesy of Facebook.

Trans-Jakarta Busway vs. New York Subway: The Flashers...

The Trans-Jakarta Busway as had a few recent "groping" incidents. These were essentially men grabbing and touching women in places women would not be expecting to be touched in a public bus. The police tended to encourage the women not to pursue their allegations any further as they are too difficult to prove. This resulted in some CCTV equipment being installed as a deterrent.

In contrast, the groping went to a much more extreme level in New York recently with the groper actually being a flasher who thought he would rub his penis up against his victim. Interestingly, no CCTV footage here, but some mobile phone video camera footage of the aftermath.

Perhaps, with the technology available to us in 2010 citizen journalism may capture a whole lot more video evidence than we might have had access to in the past, particularly real-time evidence at the scene of the crime.

"Crush Videos" -- Banned in the US...

The "Internet!" The mention of one word, "internet", can inspire such varied and passionate reactions in people. These reactions stream along a curve from the positive to the negative. The internet is a wonderful resource. Yet, it is also a place where there is much to be found that highlights the darkness and depravity that makes some of us tick. Crush videos are one of those things that hide out in the deepest and darkest recesses of our existence.

The US Senate voted unanimously to ban the creation, sale and distribution of crush videos. For some of you, this might be the first time you have ever heard of the term crush videos. You are also wondering "what the hell is he talking about?" A crush video, to all of you reading this who have lived very sheltered and protected lives, are sexual fetish films in which small animals are maimed and killed. It is probably worth noting that the law does not cover "cruelty" to small animals that fall victim to hunters or who might suffer in the care of veterinarians.

If you are anything like me, then you are having a hard time getting your head around the idea that there is anything sexual in the maiming and killing of small animals. Then again, I have always wondered what it is that makes a seemingly super-ordinary person a serial killer? For me, the what makes them "tick" aspect of it all.

I really do not have any problem with parliament getting involved in this way. I have absolutely no problem with crush videos being banned. I do not see the banning of these sorts of videos as an impingement on the freedom of speech of those who make them or those who want to watch them. I would reckon that in this day and age of modern technology there would have to be a way to satisfy this sexual fetish 'virtually'.

Yet, come to think of it, it would not take a whole lot to ban virtual sexual fetishes either. The law as it was passed seems to provide a free pass to virtual content as the wording goes something like this: "actual conduct in which one or more living animal is intentionally crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, or impaled in a manner that would violate a criminal prohibition on cruelty to animals".

Digressing a little, has a crime been committed against a person, a child, in a virtual child porn, operation? I have been watching too much "Law & Order: SVU" of late.

Back on track, and back to the internet. The internet is a vast resource if you know how to look for certain things or if you are looking for specific content. To be honest, I have not ever looked for crush videos. To be equally honest, I have not studied sexual fetishes that closely to know that there was even a sexual fetish that involved cruelty to animals.

Nevertheless, the truth of the matter, these videos have traditionally been distributed for free utilising file-sharing peer-to-peer networks. The internet and ever-improving connection speeds have ensured that the ability to disseminate and distribute content has become much easier.

As context to why the US Senate had to pass a law on this sort of material arises from a US Supreme Court decision from this past April that declared an earlier 1999 law that criminalised videos that showed abuse and cruelty to animals to be unconstitutional. The 'unconstitutional-ness" of the 1999 law stems from the fact that SCOTUS held that the original law was too broad and therefore a violation of people's First Amendment rights to free speech.

Free speech vs. the right to life of some small defenseless creatures...hmmm, consider the animals for a moment and let's stop the crush!

Honey...Go Turn A Trick, I Am Broke!

Seriously, desperate times call for desperate measures. As you, my loyal readers know, I am always out searching for the weird and wonderful tidbits of news from around the traps. Usually, this is either Indonesia or Australia. Here is a story out of West Sulawesi in Indonesia.

A local man in West Sulawesi thought that it would be a good idea to get into politics. He campaigned vigorously for a seat in the local West Sulawesi parliament. Unfortunately, he came up short. It did not become apparent just how unfortunate this was until some time later.

The candidate, Haerul Asri, spent all of his own money and then money that he borrowed in failing to win the parliamentary seat. It was not long before the debt collectors came knocking and calling in the markers that Asri had left all over town. Asri had owned a successful motor bike trading business prior to his failed bid for the parliament, but it would seem his motor bike business endured similar fortunes to that of his political campaign.

Unable to pay back his debts, Asri needed a quick fix, a money fix that is. For some reason Asri figured the quickest way to get the cash to pay of his debts was to force his wife to have sex for money. So, Asri started offering up his wife of 14 years, and the mother of his two children, to his friends and colleagues. The going rate was IDR 300K up to IDR 500K (depending on the service?).

Under duress, regular beatings and the threat of death, the wife reluctantly serviced some of Asri's friends. This arrangement did not last long and the wife fled back to her home village of Samarinda in East Kalimantan.

The court case is underway and Asri faces up to 15 years in the slammer for his vile debt payment plan.

Seriously, what makes a man think that he can treat women, and more specifically his wife, in such a heinous way?

(Story and photo sourced from The Jakarta Globe)

UN Peacekeepers and Sex Crimes...

It is too bad that national authorities have the prime responsibility for punishing their nationals who commit sex crimes whilst on active duty with the United Nations (UN). Too bad, because most national authorities fail to appreciate the seriousness of the offenses, quite often perpetrated against children, or there is just no desire to prosecute at the national level.

Nevertheless, at least 50 peacekeepers have been punished by their respective national authorities for sex crimes committed whilst in the service of the UN. The punishments have been somewhat on the light side with most seeing a reduction in rank and the most serious punishment being a stint of eight months in jail.

The UN released the data after repeated requests to do so. However, the UN did not publicize the identities or the nations of the perpetrators of these outrages against human dignity.

Unfortunately for the UN, the UN can investigate the alleged crimes and forward relevant data and information to the relevant national authority. However, it is the national authority that makes the determination to prosecute or not. The data shows that although prosecutions for sex crimes is increasing, there are still vast numbers of allegations that go untried.

Manohara Odelia Pinot -- Part XIII -- Daisy Fajarina as the "Evil Mother"

The saga continues. It is somewhat addictive for me as there is just so much to process and analyze from a legal standpoint. It seems that the Malaysian press is coming up with the far juicer pieces for the gossip columns. The following piece is based on an article from the Malay Mail.

George Manz is Manohara's biological father. He is a engineer that was formerly based in Indonesia. He met Daisy while he was in Jakarta in 1989, presumably fell in love, and the rest is history as they say. Mano, as she is affectionately known, was born in 1992. Not long after this things apparently went wrong fast and Manz claims that Daisy stole his daughter away from him. He also claims that Daisy is a proponent of black magic and has an evil hold over his daughter.

According to Manz, the black magic proof is in an x-ray of Mano's mouth. It is claimed that on a visit to a dentist an x-ray was taken and this x-ray showed gold needles and diamonds embedded in Mano's chin. I do not know how this proves black magic is in play. It would seem to make more sense that Mano was about to become a mule in a smuggling operation.

Nevertheless, the black magic claims aside, Manz has agreed to help the prince in his fight against the evil one, aka Daisy Fajarina. Manz sent a letter to the prince outlining his desire to help, his belief that the prince can save Mano from Daisy's evil influence, and sent documents that he believes might assist in the fight.

The whole affair is about to get a whole lot more interesting in a legal sense as Manz is threatening to get the US State Department (some Hillary Clinton involvement?) involved, Mano is a US citizen, and it would seem that the basis of the pursuit might be some form of international child kidnapping scenario.

However, it is a little late one would have thought for Manz to be coming forward now, particularly when he says that he has been following the case from afar with the help of friends in Singapore and Jakarta.

Another aspect of the case which has had some coverage in Indonesia is the legal problems that Daisy has herself and the outstanding Interpol Red Notice that requires local police agencies to facilitate the apprehension of her. Indonesia has an Interpol liaison office.

The allegations against Daisy are that she facilitated the sexual abuse of a domestic servant, who was also legally her step-daughter, by her second husband, Juergen Reiner Noack Pinot. The allegations or rape, including forcible masturbation, were subsequently proved and Pinot served jail time. Not much it seems considering he was out in four months. For her part in the whole abuse scandal, Daisy was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Daisy has yet to serve a day of that sentence and that is why the French have sort the red notice.

It would seem that Daisy knows a lot about the sexual abuse of young and vulnerable women having participated in the perpetration of such abuse herself. If she is really so shocked and abhorred by such conduct then she must show that she has the courage of those convictions and return to France and face the legal music there.

I am sure the symphony that is planned for her on her eventual return is going to be far from the sweet music she thinks she might be able to enjoy in Jakarta.

Extradition treaty or not with France, Indonesia must show that it is committed to the elimination of all violence against women, even where this violence is perpetrated by women against other women.

Simply, Indonesia must comply with the red notice and facilitate the detention of Daisy Fajarina and allow her to be returned to France. The only way that this should not happen is if Daisy can show, and prove, that the process against her was fatally flawed and that the sentence imposed upon her was legally wrong.

As much as I might feel for Mano's plight with respect to the allegations she has made against the prince, and even if the allegations are true, this cannot and must not become a get out of jail free card for her mother.

Simply, Daisy Fajarina is not a victim here. If anyone is a victim then Mano is, assuming that the allegations can be made out. And, to date, they have not been made out. The truth is that Daisy is the perpetrator of some serious crimes of violence against another woman for which she has not paid the price.

Genital Piercing of Children...

I wonder about this one. I am all for freedom of choice. If someone wants to get a genital piercing or two then that is a decision for them. However, this position presupposes that the person seeking to have their genitals pierced are of legal, age and can in fact consent to having the piercings done. Yet, I have some serious concerns about whether a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old have the capacity to make those decisions for themselves. In a legal sense, they clearly do not.

More to the point, what are two youngsters doing thinking about, and then getting, their genitals pierced. Even more to the point, what are two tattoo artists / piercers thinking when they decided to pierce the genitals of two young girls. This seems to have been opportunistic at best.

The two tattooists / piercers, Mark Andrew Ford and Gregory Alan Ford, 50 and 53-years-old respectively, told the two girls that before the piercings could be done properly the genitals of both would have to be stimulated. This stimulation required the sexual penetration of both the girls. These offenses occurred in 2001 and 2007.

Ultimately, both men pleaded guilty to the sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16.

The Judge, Wendy Wilmoth, described the case as unusual. It was unusual because the sexual penetration of the two young girls was at the girls' request. However, the judge points out that this does not change the fact that neither girl was of an age where she could have legally consented to such sexual activity. And, neither man inquired as to the age of the two when the piercings were requested.

This is the interesting part. The sexual penetration of a child is a very serious criminal offense and should attract a punishment that is commensurate with the seriousness of the crime. Yet, the judge imposed sentences of two years and six months on both men and then suspended those sentences for a full three years. This means that assuming neither man breaches the terms and conditions of their respective sentencing, then they will not see the inside of a jail cell.

I wonder how serious an offense it is to sexually penetrate a child under the age of 16 where the sentence is less than three years and can be wholly suspended?

If you want to know more about genital piercing, then a simple Google search will point you in the right direction (and provide you with some graphic examples of the practice). Or, if you are really interested in piercing then you might want to inquire into purchasing the "Piercing Bible". It is unlike any other bible I have seen! (I should add here that there is no deal in place with the publisher to promote this bible. Besides if the publisher saw my visitor stats then I am certain no promotional deal could be struck. My readers, you are loyal but few in number).

Women as Sexual Predators

It is most often the case if one was to start a discussion about sexual predators that the focus would be on men. However, it is not a case that only men are sexual predators but women prey on children sexually as well. The question is do we hold women to a different standard when it comes to sex crimes involving minors than the standard we hold men?

A story out of Pennsylvania in the US has shocked a suburban community where the alleged offences occurred. Two single mothers, on of who has two children of her own, have been charged with offences including statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, and the endangerment of a child, among other offences.

The story goes that one of the women, Lynne Long, was holding a slumber party at her home where the invitees were boys between the ages of 14 and 16. The other woman, Angela Honeycutt, is alleged to have had sex with a 14-year old and performed sex acts on a 15-year old. It is also alleged that Honeycutt showed her breasts, did some French kissing, talked dirty to the boys, and showered with another. The allegations against Long are that she listened in on the assaults and she watched the assaults occur. It is further alleged that Long told the boys not to say anything. In the above photo, Honeycutt is on the left and Long is on the right.

The crimes came to light when one of the boys told his parents the lurid details of the evening's activities.

Both women are now back in the community after having been released on bail.

The question is this, if these allegations were against two men having perpetrated these crimes against girls of the same age would they have been granted bail?

The other question is this, if we are serious about protecting our children from harm and sexual predators, then should people alleged to have committed such sexually predatory crimes be granted bail?