Frustration at 1st day of Burlington teacher’s trial in Indonesia

The first day of trial for a Burlington teacher jailed in Indonesia ended after an 11-hour session.

Neil Bantleman is accused of sexually assaulting three children at the Jakarta International School where he worked.

Technical difficulties prevented the first witness from testifying via teleconference, so the judge instead decided to bring the young boy to the courtroom. Bantleman was taken away back to a holding cell and the trial proceeded without him.

The child’s testimony took over two hours and when he finished Neil was brought back. The judge asked if Neil had any questions or comments and he responded saying that he can’t comment because he wasn’t there for the testimony.

Lawyers say the child’s testimony can’t be used as evidence according to Indonesia’s criminal law. In the afternoon the child’s mother testified for close to 3 hours.

Bantleman’s wife Tracy described the first day. “The child was brought down, he was wearing a mask and the mother comes covered into the courtroom to disguise her identity. It’s just so amazing how this trial is going forward and how these mothers have gotten their stories so far.”

“There’s no evidence.”

Tracy says there’s no hard medical evidence proving the allegations of sexual assault. Five co-accused janitors working at the school were convicted and sentenced yesterday to up to 8 years in prison regardless of the medical evidence.

Lawyers say it was only after mediation between the first mother and the school failed that the allegations against Bantleman came out.

Additional video: CHCH’s Phil Perkins interviews Tracy Bantleman: