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High Scope student reports abuse
A sexual abuse allegation has hit another high-profile school as the mother of a student of High Scope Indonesia school in Cilandak, South Jakarta, filed a police report, claiming that her 7-year-old boy had been abused at school
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sexual abuse allegation has hit another high-profile school as the mother of a student of High Scope Indonesia school in Cilandak, South Jakarta, filed a police report, claiming that her 7-year-old boy had been abused at school.
Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul confirmed that Rudi Panjaitan, lawyer of the victim's family, filed a police report with the Jakarta Police on March 20.
Martinus said the alleged victim, who claimed that the perpetrator was an adult male, was traumatized by the alleged incident and could not reveal if it was committed by a teacher or another staff member.
'We are studying the police report and have yet to name any suspects,' Martinus told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Shortly after the case broke, High Scope Indonesia denied the allegation.
Through a written statement obtained by the Post over the weekend, the school claimed that there had been no such sexual abuse as the student claimed and said that the allegation was defamation. High Scope explained that the incident started on March 17, when a mother of a student told Jossy Soenarjo, the school's chief academic operator, that her son was sexually assaulted in the school's toilet just before a science fair event.
Jossy then accompanied the mother to take her son to undergo a medical examination at Siloam Hospital on Jl. TB Simatupang in South Jakarta. According to the statement, the doctor found a minor abrasion in the boy's genitalia, but the report said that it was not caused by any assault.
'The day after, the mother told Jossy about her discussion with her son shortly after the hospital examination. The boy said that he often saw the perpetrator in the school's library,' the school's statement said.
The statement said further that when the mother and her son were taken to the library, the boy said the incident took place in a room beneath the floor that was connected by a secret door. High Scope denied that there was any such room in the school.
According to the statement, the mother was asked to watch the previously recorded surveillance videos installed near the toilet. Later in the day , accompanied by the school's principal, Eva Tantri, the mother realized that no assault had been recorded by the surveillance camera.
'However, the mother refused to believe it right away because it contradicted her son's statement,' read the statement.
