Teacher of Jakarta International School (JIS) Neil Bantleman (R) and co-accused teaching assistant Ferdiand Tjiong (C) when arrive for undergo a trial at the South Jakarta court in Jakarta (12/2). TEMPO/Dasril Roszandi
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - South Jakarta District Court held a further hearing case on the sexual abuse that occurred in Jakarta International School (JIS). The session is a defense against two defendants Neil Bentleman and Ferdinant Tjiong, where both are teachers of JIS.
The session started with a defense hearing of the accused Bentleman. He directly conveyed his defense for the sexual crime charged against him.
“I hereby convey my character and my 17-year teaching experience,” Bentleman said. Bentleman claimed that he never received any complaints during his teachings.
Bentleman also mentioned the case to be “weird” for not mentioning the date and time of the incident. The uncertainty of time and evidence shows that the sexual crime never occured in JIS, Bentleman said.
In last week’s arraignment hearing, the two JIS teachers were charged with Article 82 of Regulation No. 23 Year 2002 on Child Protection. Neil and Ferdinant were accused of raping three JIS Kindergarten students AL, AK, and DA.
