Mon, 17 Jul 2000

Self-confessed sodomizer says he was a victim

JAKARTA (JP): A 22-year-old man who has confessed to sodomizing four boys said on Saturday that he had been a victim of sexual abuse when he was a primary school pupil.

Slamet Riyadi alias Yadi, of Johor Baru, Central Jakarta, was apprehended by his neighbors on Friday following claims by two boys that he had sodomized them. They later handed him over to the Central Jakarta Police.

The parents of three other young boys from the same neighborhood meanwhile filed reports with the Central Jakarta Police on Saturday claiming that their sons had since spoken up and said that they were also victims of sodomy by Yadi.

Yadi told reporters in his cell on Saturday that he had been preying on young boys for more than a year, and all four his victims were children in the neighborhood.

When asked why he did what he did, he said, "I was raped once. He gave me money."

He added that he had threatened to beat his victims if they ever talked to anyone.

His latest alleged victim, a 12-year-old boy, was reportedly raped on Thursday, but the mother soon learned of it from one the boy's friends. She alerted her husband, who then reported to the chief of the neighborhood unit and the local police. (07)