A priest in Medan, who was also the principal of an elementary school, was yesterday sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting his students in a case that rocked the North Sumatra capital.
The Medan District Court found Benyamin Sitepu, who headed Galilea Hosana elementary school, guilty of molesting six students at the school. His sentence was more lenient than the 15 years prosecutors had demanded, who are now considering an appeal for a harsher punishment.
Allegations against Benyamin first surfaced in March 2021, when two of his victims told their parents that they had been molested by the priest and were told to keep quiet. Benyamin apologized then and the victims’ families agreed to an out-of-court settlement.
However, his other victims then came forward, including one who said she was molested from 2018 to 2019. This victim said Benyamin took her to a hotel and his home and forced her to perform oral sex on him, among other violations.
The North Sumatra Police arrested Benyamin in May 2021 and charged him with child molestation under the Child Protection Act and the Criminal Code (KUHP), which carry a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison.
Indonesia has seen a depressingly large number of reports of sexual violence against children carried out by figures of authority in recent weeks, including the arrest of a serial child rapist who taught at an Islamic boarding school.
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