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Suspected pedophile in Depok still free despite fresh investigation
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onths after The Jakarta Post and Tirto.id unraveled a case of alleged sexual abuse in Depok, West Java, authorities have failed to provide justice for several victims who accuse one of their former overseers, who goes by the name Brother Angelo.
The Depok Police have yet to bring Angelo, nicknamed “night bat” by some of the victims who were willing to speak to Tirto in a collaboration with The Jakarta Post, to court, as they said they had not been able to obtain proper evidence and testimony from the victims.
Angelo, whose real name is Lukas Lucky Ngalngola, previously ran the Kencana Bejana Rohani orphanage in Depok, caring for dozens of children that came from different parts of the country.
On Sept. 14, 2019, the Depok Police arrested him the day after National Orphanage Forum deputy head Farid Ari Fandi had reported him to the police on behalf of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI).
During their investigation in September last year, the Depok Police even obtained a documented confession from Angelo. However, the case never went through court after the prosecutor’s office wanted the police to add more statements from the victims and witnesses.
The police claimed they were unable to find three boys who had originally been ready to speak up after an examination.
In December, the police released Angelo, saying they could not complete the dossier needed to bring him to trial.
Angelo then reportedly changed his name to Brother Geovanny Ngalngola and lived at a new orphanage.
On Sept. 7, 2020, an acquaintance of Angelo, Darius Rebong, who is the current guardian of the children, filed a fresh report with Depok Police on Angelo’s alleged sexual assault, after some victims reportedly started to open up about the abuse they endured when speaking to Darius, and later to the media.
A detective of the Depok Police’s women and children unit, Second Insp. Tulus Hamdani, said the police were still investigating the case and had questioned a victim and several witnesses, including three of the boys and a minivan driver who reportedly saw Angelo assault one of the victims inside the minivan and in the toilet of a fried chicken restaurant.
However, Tulus said the police were concerned that if there were multiple victims, they would be reluctant to testify to the police.
“We are worried that the victims won’t cooperate by giving their testimonies anymore,” Tulus said at an online discussion on Saturday.
He said the police were looking for victims who were willing to speak up in length, as looking back to the first report against Angelo, the police could not bring him to trial, as they had not obtained enough testimonies.
As to the whereabouts of Angelo, Tulus said, the police had not been able to contact him, although the police’s IT division had been trying to track his cell phone, which was frequently inactive.
The police had not put Angelo on the wanted list, arguing the case was still in the early stages of investigation.
“The conclusion is that we are still in the investigation period. So please be patient as we are doing our best to find the whereabouts of the perpetrator. We are also being careful and trying to be professional, as the person in question has been named suspect before,” Tulus said.
KPAI commissioner Putu Elvina said the commission was not able to encourage the children to open up.
Elvina cited the first report against Angelo, in which the victims didn’t want to recall memories of their traumatic assaults.
“We could not force the children to testify, as their situation is different from adult victims. We also tried to find other alternatives, but they still don’t want to [testify],” Elvina said during the discussion.
The KPAI previously tried to move the children away from Angelo’s former orphanage, including by transferring four boys from the orphanage to the Social Affairs Ministry’s Handyani Children and Social Rehabilitation Center (BRSAMPK) in East Jakarta.
The boys only stayed at the Handyani center from Sept. 8 to Nov. 10.
A social worker at the Handyani center, Sri Musfiah, said that, despite the center’s best efforts to cater to the children’s needs, they still felt uneasy and anxious at the center and wanted to return to their place.
She also confirmed that the children’s unease and anxiousness could have been a sign that they had experienced sexual abuse, which could be part of the evidence against Angelo.
“Yes, it is one indication [of sexual abuse]. One of the boys, YN, also displayed signs of physical abuse. [The children’s anxiety] did show that they were indeed victims,” Sri said.
Meanwhile, the boys’ lawyer for the second report, Ermelina, questioned the Depok Police of their inability to pursue Angelo even with the assistance of several parties.
She said that various people interested in the case had set up a direct communication forum with the Depok Police via a WhatsApp chat group, where updates on tracking Angelo were usually posted by the police or civilians. Even then the police were still unable to produce significant progress in the case.
“It is as if the Depok Police are always losing [to Angelo], as the perpetrator is always one step ahead of the Depok Police,” Ermelina said.
