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riends of the two Jakarta International School (JIS) employees who were named suspects in the case of the sexual assault of three kindergarten pupils spoke to reporters on Monday in an attempt to help clear their names.

First grade teaching assistant Ferdinant Tjiong and curriculum development head Neil Bantleman were named suspects two weeks ago and detained last Monday.

One of those speaking in defense of the JIS staff, 12th grader Brandon Rusdy, who has known Ferdinant for nine years, said that he was shocked by the allegations.

'€œI think I can speak for all of the students when I say that Ferdi is the number one person and we all love him. He cares about us. For me personally, he'€™s like family,'€ Brandon said at the JIS Cilandak campus in South Jakarta.

Brandon said that Ferdinant was the teaching assistant in his third grade class. He added that he had been close to him since then.

'€œI even invited him to my birthday party several times. He knows my parents. It doesn'€™t make sense that he would do such a thing,'€ he said.

When Ferdinant was named a suspect, Brandon was shocked and devastated.

'€œI asked the school if I could help, so that'€™s why I'€™m here today: To help Mr. Ferdi so everyone knows he'€™s a caring and kind person who wouldn'€™t hurt the students,'€ he said.

Ferdinant'€™s wife, Fransiska Tjiong, also voiced similar statements as Brandon.

Siska, who is also a first grade teaching assistant at JIS, said that Ferdinant was a responsible husband and a caring father.

'€œHe'€™s helpful at home and at school. Some parents even ask Ferdinant to tutor their children on weekends. Those parents are as shocked as I am that this case suddenly blew up out of nowhere,'€ Siska said tearfully.

She added that the allegations did not make sense to her and her husband.

'€œWe'€™ve been trying to makes sense of all of this but we can'€™t figure it out. My husband keeps asking, '€˜why me?'€™'€ Siska said.

Meanwhile, Indonesian language teacher Vanessa Siwi, who Bantleman supervises, said that she was shocked when she first heard the allegations.

'€œI was shocked. I didn'€™t believe it because I know Pak Neil very well. I interact with him at school and he would not do such a thing,'€ Vanessa said.

She added that Bantleman was both professional and helpful.

JIS maintenance head Andreas Silalahi, said that he had known Bantleman for four years.

'€œHe'€™s a responsible and caring person. Although he rarely interacts with the students, they always greet Pak Neil when they see him. This shows that he is kind to the students, I know he would never hurt them,'€ Andreas said.

Bantleman'€™s wife, Tracy Bantleman, who is a physical education teacher for kindergarten and elementary school students, echoed both Vanessa and Andreas, saying that her husband '€œwould not hurt a fly'€.

'€œI know my husband very well. We work together, we eat lunch together at school and we go home together. I would know if something strange was going on,'€ she said.

The case first came to light when police arrested six outsourced cleaners, one of whom reportedly committed suicide while in police custody, for allegedly raping a 6-year-old boy in a JIS toilet.

The case developed further when the parents of two other kindergarten students filed police reports against JIS teachers claiming their sons were sexually assaulted by them. The first victim has also implicated teaching staff.

The parents of the first victim had demanded that JIS and the ministry pay US$125 million in compensation, consisting of $25 million in material losses and $100 million in non-material losses. (dwa)