Priest gets four years for sexual misconduct

Jakarta Post, Solo

An Indonesian priest was sentenced on Monday to four years imprisonment by the Surakarta District Court, for sexually molesting seven minors under 15 years of age.

The defendant was identified as Saderah Sudiro, a priest of the Foundation for the Village Bible Society (YPIP), while his victims, who were refugees from Irian Jaya, Ambon and elsewhere in Indonesia, were unnamed during the trial hearing.

Presiding Judge Djaini Abidin said that Saderah was found guilty of violating Paragraph 2, Article 290 of the Criminal Code, on the sexual molestation of minors.

The sentence was lighter than the five years sought by prosecutor Ike Ria Wati. The article itself stipulates a maximum sentence of seven years for such crimes.

The incident was initially reported to the local police by a parent of one of the victims last October.

Judge Djaini said that the prosecutor had failed to prove to the court that the defendant had raped his victims, as no penetration had occurred, according to a doctor's medical and examination reports, and victims' testimonies.

"The prosecutor has, however, succeeded in proving to this court that the defendant sexually molested the seven victims under his care, by demanding they removed their clothes, and then touched their private parts," Djaini told the hearing. --JP