East Kalimantan man arrested for grooming, extorting Swedish teenager

The Star

2 days ago

JAKARTA: The East Kalimantan Police have arrested a 20-year-old man from Balikpapan on suspicion of grooming a 15-year-old girl from Sweden and threatening to share her intimate photos and videos online.
Grooming refers to the process by which an offender builds a relationship with a minor, often online, with the intent of gaining their trust to exploit or abuse them, typically sexually or for personal gain.
East Kalimantan Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Yuliyanto said the suspect, identified only by his initials AMZ, also extorted the victim by threatening to release the photos and videos unless she sent him money.
"He has admitted to his actions during police questioning," he said on Thursday (July 17).
According to the Head of the Cybercrime Subdirectorate at the East Kalimantan Police, Comr. Ariansyah, AMZ first came into contact with the victim last year through the popular online gaming platform Roblox.
'They initially communicated through in-game chat. Their conversations later moved to email and Discord, an online messaging platform,' Ariansyah said on Wednesday, as reported by Antaranews.
He added that AMZ gradually built an emotional connection with the victim, gaining her trust and making her feel comfortable enough to comply when he asked her to produce inappropriate photos and videos.
According to Ariansyah, between July of last year and July this year, the victim sent the suspect 10 intimate photos and 20 intimate videos.
'After receiving the videos, the suspect demanded that the victim send him US$500 or he would publish the content,' Ariansyah said.
'The victim's mother eventually sent him US$50, but no further payments were made.'
The victim's mother eventually reported AMZ to local authorities in Sweden, who then alerted the Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm and Interpol.
The East Kalimantan Police began their investigation in early June and arrested AMZ on July 15 at his private residence in East Balikpapan.
During the arrest, police seized AMZ's laptop, two mobile phones, five email accounts, multiple online gaming accounts and various social media profiles, including Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok.
Authorities also confiscated his PayPal account, which was allegedly used to receive money from the victim.
Police initially charged AMZ under Articles 27 and 43 of the 2024 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law for the distribution of pornographic material and extortion, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a fine of up to Rp 1 billion.
However, authorities later opted for a restorative justice approach, citing the absence of an official report filed by the victim with the Indonesian police.
Without a formal complaint, they explained, the case could not be brought to court.
'The victim also resides overseas, which makes the investigation quite difficult,' said East Kalimantan Police's Ariansyah.
He added that since AMZ ultimately did not publish the intimate photos, the victim's family agreed not to file a report with international authorities, an action that could have led to AMZ's extradition to Sweden.
As part of the restorative justice process, authorities required AMZ to formally apologize to the victim and her family.
East Kalimantan Police's Yuliyanto urged parents to strengthen supervision of their children's online activities to help prevent them from becoming targets of cybercrimes.
'The East Kalimantan Police are committed to enhancing public education on cybercrimes, especially those targeting children and teenagers,' he said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN