Case of Abduction of 9 Children, Candidate for Pastor in Alor Sentenced to Death

The Kalabahi District Court in Alor Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province, sentenced a former vicar or assistant in the position of church leader and candidate for pastor named Sepriyanto Ayub Snae to death. He was found guilty of sexually abusing nine children. The verdict against the candidate for pastor was read out by the chairman of the panel of judges at the Kalabahi District Court, Raden Mar Suprapto, Wednesday (8/3).

In the verdict of the panel of judges, the defendant has been legally and convincingly proven to have persuaded the child to have sex with him which resulted in more than one victim and was repeated. As indictment Article 81 Paragraph 5 in conjunction with Article 76D of RI Law Number 35 of 2014 in conjunction with RI Law Number 17 of 2016 concerning Child Protection in conjunction with Article 65 Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code.

Based on the decision of the panel of judges, the defendant through his legal adviser expressed his thoughts.

Head of Intelligence at the Alor State Attorney’s Office, Zakaria Sulistiono, said the verdict given by the panel of judges was in accordance with the demands of the public prosecutor, namely the death penalty. The six things that aggravated the verdict were that the defendant’s actions were contrary to government programs in efforts to protect children. “It’s against the religious values ​​of decency and decency,” he told VOA, Thursday (9/3).

Then, the actions of the defendant traumatized the victims. The victims were also bullied in their relationships due to the abuse committed by the defendant. “The defendant’s actions left the victim traumatized and bullied in his association and damaged the future of the victim. The defendant’s actions caused unrest in the community,” said Zakaria.

Furthermore, another thing weighed on the defendant because Sepriyanto Ayub Snae was a vicar or priest candidate who was considered sacred by the community so that his actions had tarnished the good name of the church. Then, the number of victims amounted to nine children and the defendant was not completely honest in giving testimony during the trial. “Meanwhile, there are no mitigating factors,” concluded Zakaria.

KPAI Encourages Rehabilitation and Psychosocial Support for Victims

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI), Ai Maryati Solihah, said the nine children who were victims must receive social rehabilitation and psychosocial support to recover from trauma. “This is worrying that bullying and revictimization are actually happening,” he said via text message to VOA.

Not only that, in the mental recovery of the victims, cooperation from the family is needed by accepting the child’s situation to restore the children’s physical and mental health. “Then, the community also sees it (must) as a victim so that it supports social rehabilitation for children (victims),” said Ai Maryati.

The death sentence is the second in less than a month. On February 13, the panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court also handed down a death sentence against former Head of Propam Polri Inspector General Ferdy Sambo because he was found guilty of killing his wife’s adjutant on July 8 2022. Sambo immediately declared an appeal.[aa/em]