Australian Dustin Linklater charged with paedophilia in Indonesia
A Darwin man has been charged with indecently assaulting a 15-year-old boy in Indonesia and now faces 15 years in prison.
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A Darwin man has been charged with paedophile crimes on the Indonesian island of Java and could face 15 years prison and more than $500,000 in fines.
Dustin Linklater, 39 of Wagaman in Darwin’s northern suburbs, is being held in jail in Java’s Banyuwangi region, which is close to the ferry crossing from Java to Bali.
Indonesian Prosecutor Gandhi Muchlisin told a panel of judges chaired by Judge Nova Flory Bunda, that Mr Linklater allegedly lied and tricked children to commit “obscene acts”.
The Australian man is charged under Indonesia’s Child Protection Laws, article 82 paragraph which carried a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of IDR 5 billion or $550,000.
The articles aim to protect children from being persuaded to commit obscene acts or for adults to commit obscene acts with minors of the same sex.
“The defendant was arrested in August 2019 at his rented house in Rogojampi, Banyuwangi,” Mr Muchlisin said.
Mr Linklater, a restaurant worker in Australia, is accused of luring the boy to his rented house and showing him a pornographic movie on his cell phone while the 15-year-old boy — who is identified only as MI — was on Mr Linklater’s bed.
“The defendant then sat next to the victim and then opened the sarong the victim was wearing,”’ he said.
Mr Linklater is accused of orally sexually abusing the boy multiple times and giving the teen the equivalent of $10.
A medical examination of the boy on August 15 confirmed swelling of his vital organs.
Police said that mobile phones have been confiscated from the house as evidence as well as 30 condoms, lubricant oil, strong drugs, bed sheets and pillows.
The court heard that in 2018, Mr Linklater knew the victim, having met him at the Bunder water park in Java.
Authorities were alerted when the boy’s parents made a report to local police.
Mr Linklater’s lawyer Mochamad Zaeni said he would not request an exclusion or exception. The trial resumes next Tuesday, February 18.
Originally published as Australian Dustin Linklater charged with paedophilia in Indonesia
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