Police to Trace Victims in Frenchman Pedophilia Case

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Metro Jaya Police Chief Inspector General Nana Sudjana (second from left) together with Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara (second from right) accompanied by Metro Jaya Police Director General Kombes Pol Tubagus Ade Hidayat (left) and Chairperson of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) Susanto released the arrest of a male citizen from France has the initials FAC alias Frans (65) at Mapolda Metro Jaya, Jakarta, on Thursday (9/7/2020).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Jakarta Police have arrested a Frenchman identified as FAC and seized 305 recordings of illegal sex acts that FAC allegedly committed with 305 different minors. However, the police are facing a challenge in identifying the minors in the recordings, as their data is not recorded in any national population database like the data of adult citizens.

“The victims are underage and their data is not yet stored and integrated with their electronic ID cards. We do not have the list of [the victims’] identities and we can only identify them from the recordings. We have to be really careful in asking the other [identified] minors and match [their looks] with the recordings,” Jakarta Police chief detective Sr. Comr. Tubagus Ade Hidayat said in Jakarta on Friday (10/7/2020).

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So far, the police have identified 17 of FAC’s victims, including AS, 16; EH, 14; SB, 13; FL, 16; NW, 15; and RT, 16. Most of them are female street children.

For instance, he refused to share the password of his electronic gadgets.

Identifying victims is complicated even further by FAC’s refusal to cooperate in the investigation. For instance, he refused to share the password of his electronic gadgets.

In his actions, FAC is said to have told his victims that he was a photographer. He asked the victims to come with him to a hotel and offered them money to be his models. “He worked alone. He can speak broken Indonesian. He understood [the language] because he had come to Jakarta several times on a tourist visa since 2015. This means that he has been here over the span of five years,” Tubagus said.

Crowds of children

A police investigation found that FAC had been staying at Hotel O from December 2019 to February 2020, Hotel L from February to April this year and Hotel PP from April to June this year. FAC usually traveled around Jakarta to find crowds of children. Those who were willing to come with him are given makeup, photographed and molested.

Afterwards, FAC gave his victims anywhere between Rp 250,000 (US$17.4) and Rp 1 million. FAC reportedly physically assaulted his victims who refused to obey him.

FAC has been charged under Law No. 17/2016 on child protection. He may face the death penalty or life in prison, as well as chemical castration. If it is found that he spread the recordings, he may also be charged under Law No. 19/2016 on electronic information and transactions.

KOMPAS/SONYA HELLEN SINOMBOR

KPAI Commissioner Meeting in Jakarta related to the Violation of Child Rights 2019 and Child Protection Supervision Projection in 2020, on Tuesday (18/2/2020).

Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) commissioner Ai Maryati Sholilah said in a written statement that, in handling the case, the government should establish a joint team comprising police officers and officers from the Social Affairs Ministry and the Integrated Care Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children (P2TP2A).

“There are so many victims and the perpetrator is clearly a child sex groomer. He uses an emotional and persuasive approach to get closer to the minors, before sexually exploiting them,” Ai Maryati said.

Women Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry deputy of child protection Nahar said he urged people who knew the perpetrator and had information on other minor victims to report immediately to the police or the ministry’s public complaint number at 082125751234.

“The ministry ensures that the victims are accompanied during the investigation. They will also get legal counsel and a psychological assessment,” Nahar said. (SON)