East Java Regional Police Arrests A Student Who Pimps Children's Online Prostitution

Release of child prostitution cases (AM Sby / VOI)

SURABAYA - Subdit V Cyber, Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimsus) of East Java Regional Police, arrested a student who was pimping on child prostitution online. The suspect is named Angga Prayitno, 21, a resident from Tambakrejo, Waru District, Sidoarjo Regency.

"This suspect invited the victim, who was still 15 years old, to look for money in an improper way, by selling it to a masher," said Deputy Director of the East Java Regional Police's Ditreskrimsus, Grand Commissioner Adjutant (AKBP) Zulham Effendy, at the East Java Regional Police Headquarters, in Surabaya, Tuesday, January 26. 2021.

Zulham said this illicit business had only been running for two months from December 2020 to January 2021. The victim had served seven masher men with varying rates, IDR 500 thousand to IDR 2 million per date. Meanwhile the suspect took 20 percent profit from the price tagged.

"Now we are still investigating, because it does not rule out the possibility of other victims. We hope we can stop this incident due to underage exploitation of acts that are beyond humanitarian limits," he said.

According to Zulham, the case was revealed when the victim was found to be serving a masher at a hotel in Surabaya. This victim was sold by the suspect who had known the victim for a long time.

The victim then collaborated, and the suspect offered prostitution services through several MiChat social media accounts under the pseudonym Puput, then a WhatsApp group with the name "Beragam Kreasi Jatim", and a Facebook group with the name "Gadis Include Surabaya Sidoarjo", using Angga Gepeng's account.

"The mode is that the perpetrator posts a photo via Facebook if someone is interested, then communicates via Whatsapp, only if he agrees to meet directly at the specified place," said Zulham.

The suspect Angga Prayitno is charged with Article 27 Paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 45 Paragraph 1 of the ITE Law with a maximum sentence of six years in prison, and/or a maximum fine of IDR 1 billion in conjunction with Article 296 of the Criminal Code with a maximum imprisonment of one year and four months, or a maximum punishment of fifteen thousand rupiah.