(4/26/2010)
Bali Police have made two arrests in connection with a series of sexual assaults on young school girls in Bali's capital of Denpasar. The rape of six girls over the past two months prompted a massive manhunt by police officers and members of local volunteer civilian forces armed with sketches of the alleged assailant based on descriptions provided by the young victims.
A 28-year-old university student, Salvador da Costa Soares, has reportedly admitted raping one of the victims, a 9-year-old girl. Police state that forensic tests have confirmed the man's DNA in fluid tests taken from the young victim
Prior to his arrest, Soares worked as a motorcycle taxi driver, carrying young children between their homes and schools.
The second man arrested by police, I Made Sumarjaya, was employed as a security guard and is believed by police to have abducted a 13-year-old girl from the school grounds before bringing her to a local motel where he raped the child.
Police continue to investigate believing that as many as four of the recent rape cases remain unsolved.
The 2003 Indonesian Child Protection Law provides for 15 years in prison for the men if convicted of child rape.
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