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Sentence demand for accused Australian pedophile ‘too light’: Activist
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Serious charges -- Accompanied by his lawyer, Australian national Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis (right), 70, attends a session of his trial at the Denpasar District Court on Tuesday. Ellis was accused of having sexually abused 11 Balinese children.
(JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
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hild protection activist Siti Sapura has said Australian national Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis, 70, deserves to get a tough sentence if he sexually abused 11 Balinese children as charged.
She made the statement to respond the prosecution's demand for a 16-year imprisonment for Ellis during the latter’s trial at the Denpasar District Court on Tuesday.
“It’s too light for what he has [allegedly] done to our children. He should get a heavier sentence," Siti said.
The Bali Police arrested Ellis in January this year based on information provided by the child protection organization, the Lentera Anak Bali Foundation.
To follow up on the information, the Bali Police's Women and Children Protection (PPA) Unit, the Denpasar administration's Integrated Service Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children (P2TP2) and the Lentera Anak Bali Foundation, one of two child protection groups, including Bali-Terre des Hommes Netherlands, concerned with the crime, conducted a joint investigation starting in December last year, which ended with Ellis’ arrest in January.
It was suspected Ellis had sexually abused many children in 2014 and 2015. He reportedly attracted his victims with various gifts.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the prosecution team also demanded the court’s judicial panel order Ellis to pay a fine of Rp 2 billion (US$151,670), or face an additional eight months in prison.
“The defendant’s [alleged] acts have degraded the dignity of Indonesian children. His [alleged] acts have damaged the future of those children,” prosecutor Anak Agung Alit Suastika told the court. (ebf)
