Bantleman abuse conviction overturned in Jakarta

According to a Jakarta news article, the Jakarta High Court has acquitted Bantleman and his co-defendant Ferdinant Tijong, in the sexual abuse of students at the Jakarta global School.

Bantleman’s family did not immediately comment saying they were waiting for confirmation from the courts.

Canadian school administrator Neil Bantleman (L) and Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong are held in a cell on April 2, 2015 before a judge found them guilty of sexually abusing children at the elite Jakarta Intercultural School.

They appealed the ruling which was overturned Friday in Jakarta.

Neil Bantleman and a colleague at the Jakarta Intercultural School were accused of sexually abusing three students in 2014.

“The truth is finally revealed and justice has been done”, the teachers’ lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, told AP.

The school’s principal and other teachers have alleged the case is a blackmail attempt as parents of one of the children are seeking $125 million in compensation.

The cases have been closely watched by expatriates and diplomats in Jakarta, many of whom send their children to the U.S.-embassy backed school.

The court in the Indonesian capital had sentenced Bantleman and Tjiong to each serve 10 years in prison and pay a fine of 100 million rupiah ($7,600).

The case was brought in Singapore by Bantleman’s family because the initial allegations were made in Singapore through emails, texts and other digital communications.

The scandal began last year with claims that cleaners committed abuse at the school, previously known as the Jakarta global School, before allegations were levelled at Bantleman and Tjiong.

Four male janitors were sentenced to eight years in jail in that case, while a woman received seven years as an accomplice.

The lawyer, who was picking up documents to process the men’s release, said he hoped they would be freed later today.