French man accused of molesting 305 Indonesian children

Indonesian authorities have arrested a French man for alleged sexual abuse of minors after finding videos on his laptop computer showing him molesting over 300 children, police said Friday.

Jakarta police spokesman Yusri Yunus said Francois Camille Abello was arrested late last month in a hotel room where he was found with two naked girls.

He said police had received a tip-off from nearby residents who suspected a foreigner at the hotel was exploiting children.

Abello could face death by firing squad if found guilty under child protection laws, Yunus said.

Abello, a 65-year-old retiree, was paraded in handcuffs at a news conference on Thursday where Jakarta Police Chief Nana Sudjana said the videos on the computer showed him engaging in illegal sex acts with 305 children aged 10 to 17. Abello remained silent at the news conference.

Sudjana said Abello had not cooperated with investigators and refused to provide passwords for programs on his computer.

He said most of the victims were street children whom Abello had approached and offered work as models. Abello paid them between 250,000 and 1 million rupiah ($17 and $70) for engaging in sex with him and beat those who refused, Sudjana said.

"We are still investigating whether he has also exploited his victims economically through social media or other internet platforms," Sudjana said.

There are reports that foreign pedophiles are increasingly targeting children in Indonesia, but there have been few arrests of foreigners and little research on the topic.

In mid-June, police said they arrested an American fugitive, Russ Albert Medlin, for alleged sexual assault of children. He was apprehended at his residence in southern Jakarta after police questioned three minors.

Medlin had been charged with sexual violence against a minor twice by a district court in Nevada between 2006 and 2008 and served two years in prison prior to his arrest in Jakarta, Yunus said.