Pedophile case lacks evidence: Lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): A 25-year-old street sweeper charged with pedophilia must be exonerated because no medical reports supporting the charges have been available so far, his lawyer said yesterday.

Lawyer Felix Lumban Gaol told the East Jakarta District Court this made the indictment inaccurate. He said there was no evidence supporting the accusation the defendant had raped children.

The defendant, identified as TH, is homeless but from Cileungsi, Bogor, 30 km south of Jakarta.

Police arrested the defendant in August while police were investigating a serial killer. Ten street children's bodies were found in Central Jakarta's Kemayoran area.

Witness Sahroni, 12, said the defendant sodomized him more than 100 times in the Ramayana Department Store's car park in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

The boy said the sexual abuse started between June and July.

"If the boy has been raped many times, why hasn't the doctor found any medical evidence?" Felix asked.

Sahroni's friend Dulgani, 13, said he saw the defendant and Sahroni sleeping together under one sarong.

Felix said Dulgani could have been wrong because he was 10 meters away and it was dark.

"We doubt whether Dulgani really witnessed what is called rape," Felix said.

The medical report on Sahroni was done in July by Dr. Abdul Mun'im Idries of the University of Indonesia's medical faculty.

Last week prosecutor Sutiyah demanded three years jail and a Rp 500 (20 U.S. cents) fine for the defendant.

The prosecutor said all witnesses' testimonies agreed after cross-examination.

Presiding Judge Basoeki Mangoendimedjo adjourned the trial until next week when a verdict will be given.

The trial was one of three similar cases tried in Jakarta's district courts. (07)