Pedophile case lacks evidence: Lawyer

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)