Miner arrested for sodomy

CIREBON, West Java: Police in Cirebon, West Java, arrested a 46-year-old miner Astari alias Jae for committing sodomy with 15 under-aged children in Pekuncen village, Paliaman district.

Cirebon Police chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Musyafak, said here on Monday that the suspect was arrested after the police received reports from the parents of the pedophile victims.

"According to the suspect's confession, he has frequently had sex with nine children in a hut on his farmland in the village," he said, adding that all the victims were male.

He said the police would also ask a psychiatrist to examine the suspect to determine whether he was fit for investigation.

Adj. Comr. Sukirman, chief of the police in Paliaman, said the suspect also conceded he had a sodomy for the first time with a male child in a mosque night months ago.

"The suspect had threatened to kill the children if they reported his sexual misconduct to their parents," he said. -- JP