Lawyer highlighted that the “nationality of the aggressor does not constitute any obstacle to investigation, trial and punishment”
The Dili District Court on Thursday sentenced an Australian citizen to 20 years in prison for sexual crimes against children in Timor-Leste, said the entity that represented the victims in the process.
The man had already been sentenced in June 2024 to 11 years in prison for committing two crimes of sexual abuse, as part of a process in which the prosecution accused him of around 100 crimes, but he appealed the decision.
JU’s Legal Social, an entity that provides support to victims of sexual violence, explained that the victims also appealed to the Court of Appeal, alleging that the Dili District Court made an error in counting the number of crimes considered proven.
“The Court of Appeal dismissed the defendant’s appeal, maintaining the conviction, but agreed with the victims’ representatives regarding the error in determining the number of crimes. As a result, the case was sent to the Dili District Court for a new assessment, limited to the correct counting of criminal offenses and the adequacy of the sentence, with the matter of guilt not being reopened”, explains, in a press release, that entity.
With the new count of crimes, the Dili District Court proceeded to redefine the sentence, which was increased to 20 years.
“This decision sends a clear and unequivocal message, inside and outside the country, by demonstrating that Timor-Leste has the institutional, legal and operational capacity to act firmly against foreign citizens who enter the territory to sexually exploit and abuse our children”, stated the lawyer at JU’s Legal Social, Olívio Barros Afonso.
The lawyer highlighted that the “nationality of the aggressor does not constitute any obstacle to investigation, trial and punishment”.
“This affirmation of the authority of the justice system assumes special relevance in the current context of Timor-Leste’s regional integration into ASEAN [Associação das Nações do Sudeste Asiático]marked by an increase in the movement of people, in which it is essential to ensure that regional openness does not translate into vulnerability, but rather into an increased and shared responsibility for protecting children’s rights”, adds JU’s Legal Social.
In December 2021, a former American priest, who had resided in Timor-Leste since 1996, was also sentenced to 12 years in prison for various child abuse crimes.
