A PE teacher at a public elementary school in the Sukabumi regency of West Java has been accused by parents of disturbingly inappropriate behavior towards their children.
As reported by local news website Sukabumiupdate, the teacher, identified by his initial U (55), has been accused of repeatedly kissing his students for some time. Parents of five alleged victims have reported U to the police, who say they are now questioning witnesses in relation to the case.
“They say he liked to kiss the kids on their cheeks and on their lips. He was [sucking their faces]. It happened in class, in the bathroom. At first none of the kids said anything. My child didn’t say anything. But after one of them told their parents, we all found out,” said a parent of an alleged victim.
“He has a wife and kids. And they say he was a former criminal.”
The school’s principal, Yuyu Yuningsih, today told Sukabumiupdate that she was made aware of the accusations just last month. She said when she asked U about it, he confessed to her that he did it as a way to reward his students and express his love for them.
“He said he had no other motive, especially not sexual harassment as accused by the parents,” Yuyu said.
Yuyu added that she reported U to the local Education Board, who then transferred him to another school in the same district while the police investigation is ongoing. She also says she’s facilitating a “mediation session” between U and the parents at the school today.
In 2016, after the brutal gang rape and murder of a teenage girl in Bengkulu, President Joko Widodo signed a Perppu (Presidential Regulation In Lieu of Law) introducing the death penalty and chemical castration for convicted child molesters. Activists say that the threat of severe punishment has not been as successful a deterrent as the government hoped, as sexual assault against children continue to be a serious problem in Indonesia.
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