Police nab pimp for selling 10 girls

Police nab pimp for selling 10 girls

P.C. Naommy, Jakarta

The National Police arrested a pimp and three of her customers on
allegations she had sold and abused underage children as
prostitutes.

Director of the transnational crimes division Brig. Gen.
Ariyanto Sutadi said on Saturday that the suspected pimp, Arum,
had preyed on 10 girls aged 13 to 14, who are junior high school
students in South Jakarta. The suspect sold the girls' virginity
to the customers for Rp 300,000 (US$32) to Rp 1 million per
person.

Six of the 10 students were expelled from their schools,
ostensibly for the sake of protecting the image of the schools,
after telling their counseling teachers about the incidents.

Arum, who was arrested on Tuesday, told investigators that she
used money and new clothes as the bait to exploit the girls,
whose parents work as bajaj (motorized pedicab) or ojek
(motorcycle taxi) drivers.

Three other suspects -- identified as Iwan, a businessman;
Dedy, a former official of the West Java State Logistics Agency
(Bulog) and another who is still unidentified -- were arrested on
Wednesday.

Arum will be charged under Article 297 of the Criminal Code on
trafficking boys or girls below 15 years old. The article carries
a maximum sentence of six years' imprisonment. The police might
use Law No. 23/2002 on child protection to level more serious
charges against her.

The three suspects will be charged under Article 287 of the
Criminal Code on having sex with children under 15 years old and
could face a maximum nine years' imprisonment.

Police set a trap for the three customers with help from Arum,
who had been arrested a day earlier thanks to a tip-off from the
public.

Arum had promised the three that she would bring new
prostitutes to a designated place in Tebet, South Jakarta. When
the deal was done, police caught them red-handed with the girls
as they attempted to leave the scene.

All the suspects are in detention at the National Police
Criminal and Investigation Bureau.