Janitors at Jakarta school sentenced in case linked to Bantleman

An Indonesian court has sentenced 5 janitors to up to 8 years in prison over the rape of a kindergarten student at the Jakarta International School in Indonesia – the same school Burlington teacher Neil Bantleman works at.

The custodians were arrested in April, following reports from parents of a 6 year old boy who claimed to have been sodomized.

Four of the men were sentenced today to 8 years while the only woman in the case received a sentence of 7 years. The 5 janitors were also fined to pay $8,000 or serve 3 more months in jail.

Police say a 6th person committed suicide while in custody.

The janitors’ lawyers contended that the evidence was weak since the medical reports found the boy had no major injuries. However prosecutors said the boy had been sodomized up to 13 times.

Neil Bantleman, a Burlington man who worked at the Jakarta school has been jailed in Indonesia; his trial gets underway tomorrow. He is accused of sexually abusing a boy and two other students.

Bantleman has maintained his innocence; however a judge rejected Bantleman’s request to have charges against him dismissed last week.

The school has 24 hundred students aged 3 to 18 who are children of foreign diplomats, expatriates and Indonesia’s elite. The school’s principal and a number of fellow teachers say Bantleman is innocent.

Additional video: Taz Boga interviews Neil’s brother Guy about today’s developments: