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French child abuse suspect kills himself
Frans had allegedly molested at least 305 Indonesian minors for years, most of whom were street children, though the police believe that there may have been more victims
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French citizen who was recently arrested for allegedly molesting over 300 children died on Sunday evening following a reported suicide attempt while in detention in Jakarta, the police have said.
Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said an officer who was on patrol in the detention center last week found Francois “Frans” Camille Abello, lying in a weak condition with a cable tied around his neck on Thursday evening.
"[Frans] attempted suicide by using the cable," Yusri told journalists on Monday.
He was immediately transferred to Kramat Jati Police Hospital in East Jakarta, where he spent three days undergoing medical treatment before he died on Sunday evening at around 8 p.m., Yusri said as reported by kompas.com.
Frans, a 65-year-old retiree, was arrested last month at a hotel in Taman Sari district, West Jakarta, where the police found two underage girls in his room.
He had allegedly molested at least 305 Indonesian minors for years, most of whom were street children, though the police believe that there may have been more victims. Authorities have so far identified at least 17 victims, whose ages range from 10 to 17 years old.
According to the police, Frans used to lure his victims by approaching them on the streets and offering them work as models. He later brought his victims to his hotel room, took their pictures and molested them. Those who refused to have sex with him were physically assaulted.
The suspect also installed a hidden camera in the room to record his sexual activity with the children. During his arrest, the police confiscated a laptop used to store the recordings — on which the police found at least 305 recordings of different victims — 21 items of clothing that were worn by the victims, six memory cards, 20 contraceptives, two vibrators and six cameras.
Frans faced the death penalty, a minimum of 10 years or a maximum of 20 years in prison under the 2014 Child Protection Law.
In a separate development, Syahril Parlindungan, who is alleged to have sexually assaulted dozens of altar boys at St. Herkulanus Church in Depok, West Java, has been accused by his victims’ lawyer of "systematically" molesting children for decades and abusing his power as the boys' mentor to silence them.
Lawyer Azas Tigor Nainggolan said Syahril had been molesting the altar boys since 2002.
"He would slowly seduce several potential victims at the same time by, for example, holding their hands, before eventually assaulting them. None of the victims dared to speak up because the perpetrator had manipulated them using his power as their mentor at the church," Tigor told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The lawyer added that Syahril molested his victims not only in the church's library, but also in his house and car.
The police detained Syahril after receiving reports from several parents of his "suspicious behavior" of kissing, hugging and putting the boys on his lap. Some parents also claimed that he verbally bullied the kids.
At least 21 boys spoke up during an internal investigation launched by the church administrators and parents to say the 42-year-old man had molested them. Two victims later reported the incidents to the police, who then detained and charged him under the *deleted* Child Protection Law *deleted*. (afr)
Ivany Atina Arby contributed to this article
