A Bali hotel employee featured in a video now gone viral with millions of views for allegedly propositioning a guest for a blow job has been designated a suspect for breaking Indonesia’s tough anti-pornography law.
New Zealand woman Aneta Baker posted an eight-and-a-half video, covertly recorded, of a conversation with the man, identified in local reports by his initials, ADR, 31, on Friday evening. In a 700 word post accompanying the video, along with a picture of the man, Baker alleges that the man requested a blow job when she needed help getting a refund from the hotel for a night she didn’t stay.
But while Baker had claimed she caught the man red-handed, telling viewers to turn the sound up on the video at 0:09 to hear the “something inappropriate“, many netizens thought the words uttered sounded suspiciously like “voucher” (not blow job), which would fit with the context of the ensuing conversation.
HOWEVER, Indonesian media is now reporting that Manado man ADR has fessed up to saying that the words uttered were “blow job.” Or at least that’s what police are telling reporters.
Moreover, local media is reporting that ADR has officially been designated a suspect and is subject to RI Law. no. 44 on Pornography, which has a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
“For the time being, the suspect has not been imprisoned but is required to report every Monday and Thursday. We have secured the video recording, the uniform shirt, pants, and shoes of the suspect,” Kuta Police Comr. I Nyoman Wirajaya said on Tuesday, as quoted by Bali Post.
Wirajaya added that the victim (Baker) had checked in at the hotel in Kuta on Jan. 26. She had booked until Jan. 31 and checked out on that date, but requested a refund of IDR350k (US$26) for not sleeping in the hotel one night, Jan. 28.
ADR, the reservation supervisor came up with an alternative solution, according to Wirajaya.
“The perpetrator told the victim that the refund could not be given. However, to solve the problem, the perpetrator said he will give her his own money if the victim would perform a blowjob,” Wirajaya concluded.
Baker immediately reported the comment to the hotel manager, who apologized for the incident, the police commissioner added.
The release of Baker’s video on Friday night on Facebook prompted a police investigation and lead to ADR getting arrested and brought in to custody.
“So it became viral on social media and there was allegedly sexual harassment. So based on that, we dug into what exactly happened,” said Kuta Police Chief Wayan Sumara on Tuesday.
ADR claimed to have said “blow job” to but says he was kidding, according to Sumara.
“He admitted that the conversation took place in the front lobby of the hotel located on Jl. Sunset Road, Seminyak, Badung where he said the words ‘blow job’ and it was said once,” said Sumara.
“The context was, according to the confession, that he was joking. They were talking about the refund process, which according to the alleged confession of the perpetrator, was to help the woman get her refund,” Sumara added.
The Ramada Bali Sunset Road Kuta, where the alleged incident apparently took place, issued a statement about the matter on Sunday.
“We deeply regret that the guest experienced this in our hotel. Of course we do not condone this behavior from our staff members. The staff member no longer works at our hotel and is being investigated. We offer our full support and cooperation to the affected guest,” read the statement, published in Bahasa Indonesian by CNN Indonesia.
