Canadian teacher’s detention in Indonesia raises serious concerns
IAIN MARLOW

The quiet, 45-year-old Canadian was working as a vice-principal at the prestigious Jakarta International School when he was detained by Indonesian police on shocking allegations that there was effectively a pedophile ring among top administrators.

The more one learns about this case, the stranger it seems. The principal told me he took seriously an initial meeting with a father concerned sexual abuse may have been committed by a janitor. But as the administration began to look into the matter with police, the man’s wife went public with a lawsuit against the school – which ballooned to $125-million (U.S.) and expanded to include accusations against Mr. Bantleman and an Indonesian colleague, Ferdinant Tjiong, both of whom maintain their innocence.

Multiple rapes are now alleged to have occurred – and even been filmed – in offices in the school’s front hall by the men and another administrator during school hours. I saw these offices: They have glass walls. The school’s principal became skeptical when allegations surfaced that Mr. Bantleman had conjured a “magic stone” from thin air to anesthetize his victims.

On Tuesday, as 60 supporters waved banners outside, Mr. Bantleman appeared before a Jakarta court to have an indictment read against him, and things only got stranger.

When I met them in October, Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong had been detained without charge for more than 100 days. Mr. Bantleman had a routine: running on the spot, doing yoga and teaching English. Despite fears of being caught up as “pawns” in some kind of broader corruption scheme, they assumed the case would get tossed out – and still had not been provided with any evidence linking the men to abuse.
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Their prominent defence lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, who is working pro bono and has children at the school, said he suspects the case was “fabricated” because the school refused to pay the lawsuit’s initial sum of $13.5-million (U.S.). When I spoke to Mr. Tjiong, he said an interrogating officer suggested he “make a deal” with the parents. He broke down and cried.
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The family of the student is suing the school for $130-million.