Neil Bantleman: How lawyers plan to defend teacher facing child sex charges

Attorneys for Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman think they know why at least one of the mothers alleging her son was sexually abused is levelling such charges:

The $125 million she's after.

Attorneys will centre their arguments on those motives, according to news coverage from Bantleman's Jakarta court appearance Tuesday from media in Indonesia and nearby. The reports paint a more detailed picture of the allegations against him and the planned defence.

Formal charges against Bantleman and teacher's aide Ferdinand Tijong were finally leveled Tuesday, including allegations of rape involving three different children.

Bantleman, a 45-year-old Burlington, Ont., native, and Tijong were arrested in July in connection with an investigation of sexual assault allegations at the Jakarta International School, the prestigious international school where they worked. 

• VIDEO | Neil Bantleman speaks from behind Indonesian jail bars
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Background 

The case began with an investigation and arrests connected to allegations school janitors raped a young boy in a school bathroom in January and February. The first allegations arose in April. 

Later, the parents of three other kindergarten students filed police reports claiming their sons were sexually assaulted by teachers, according to the Jakarta Post. 

The janitors' trials began in August and are ongoing, awaiting a decision in January. "Several of the cleaners who originally confessed have since recanted, claiming they were beaten by the police," according to an Agence France-Presse report. The Daily Mail reported one of the janitors charged committed suicide in jail.

The school is popular among expatriates, diplomats and Indonesia elite families, according to the Daily Mail. These allegations come against a backdrop of another unrelated scandal, that paper reported: "The school was shaken earlier this year when it emerged William Vahey, an American who taught at the school for ten years until 2002, killed himself as the FBI investigated allegations he sexually abused scores of teenage boys," 

Allegations

Because the allegations involve sexual assault against children, the proceedings will take place in a closed courtroom. The Sydney Morning Herald reported the indictment read to the Jakarta court Tuesday contains "five allegations of sodomy" against Bantleman, and also charges against Tijong, involving three different boys. 

The Herald article included other details about allegations against Bantleman: 

• that he "raped the boys in four locations"

• that he inserted a "'magic stone' ... into the anus of one of the boys to anaesthetise him" 

• the alleged assaults took place sometime between "January 2013 to March 2014"

The Herald report notes that some of the earlier allegations have been tweaked over the last few months, and others -- like a suggestion Bantleman allegedly raped a child in his glass-walled office -- aren't included in the indictment. 

Bantleman and Tijong face charges under Indonesian child protection law that could carry sentences of up to 15 years in jail, according to an Agence France-Presse story. 

Defence

Outside court Tuesday, Bantleman told reporters, "The details are so vague that I had to object. ... It's just a lot of paper right now with nothing on it."

Bantleman's attorneys intend to focus some of their defence on the "motive of one of the mothers," according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Attorney Hotman Paris Hutapea told that paper he will present proof that "the mother offered to drop the case and move overseas 'peacefully' in return for a payment of $US13.5 million." 

When that request wasn't met, attorneys contend that mother increased her suit against the school to ask for $125 million and added Bantleman and Tijong to the complaint, according to the Herald.

The school, Bantleman's family and defence attorneys have insisted since the beginning that the allegations are vague and without merit.  

In a press release from the school, attorneys Hotman and Zen said the prosecution stated in the indictment that the abuse "occurred 'at a time no longer remembered with certainty.'" Without that, attorneys contend the indictment should be void.

The Jakarta Post story includes perspective from an Indonesian legal expert and an Australian former detective. Both suggest the testimonies of children will not be enough evidence to prove a crime occurred.

Next, Bantleman's attorneys are expected to file their "exceptions" to the prosecution's charges, which Bantleman's brother Guy Bantleman said will likely comprise arguments about "issues of due process and lack of evidence."