Free at last: Bantleman and wife Tracy overjoyed after his release from Cipinang prison.
JAKARTA: A Canadian and an Indonesian jailed for sexual abuse at an elite Jakarta international school walked free from prison to an emotional reception from supporters after unexpectedly being cleared.
School administrator Neil Bantleman, who also holds British nationality, and Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong were released from jail here yesterday after winning their appeals due to a lack of evidence against them. Bantleman hugged and kissed his wife Tracy, who could not stop crying, as he walked out of the prison gates, and told a scrum of supporters and journalists: “Everybody, thank you for your support.” The pair were jailed for 10 years each in April and ordered to pay a hefty fine after being found guilty of abusing three young children at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS), which has been popular with expatriates and wealthy Indonesians for decades.
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