The West Java Police have arrested the individual allegedly behind an online prostitution ring in Bandung, according to the National Police.
“His initial is W,” National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Thursday. “He is being investigated by the West Java Police and charged with multiple articles from the Electronic Information and Transaction Law, the Pornography Law and Article 378 of the Criminal Code on fraud.”
The maximum sanction for W, a university student majoring in computer science, is 12 years in prison.
W said on Friday that he had run the website alone for the past two months.
The suspect was allegedly caught red-handed at his friend’s house in Bandung on Wednesday, following a police investigation that began in January. When police raided the house, he was alone in a room while operating the website, police say.
The website, www.cewebisyar.com, offered “dates” with dozens of girls and sex parties to paying members. The homepage required visitors to input a login and password. The website’s slogan was “Indonesia+Asia Paid Girls Community.”
According to the official website of the National Police, there were three categories of membership: Silver, Gold and Platinum, each offering different levels of services.
One Platinum member named Vava (not his real name) said he had been dating a girl who lives in Jakarta via the website. The girl, who he estimated to be about 25 years old, traveled to Bandung for the date. Vava said he paid Rp 2.5 million ($260) for the date, including transportation costs from Jakarta to Bandung and her return trip.
“The face is exactly the same with the one posted on the website,” he said, as quoted by the National Police website, adding that there were dozens of girls offered online, along with their phone numbers, physical attributes, the cost of a date and sex services offered.
Another Platinum member, Romeo (also not his real name), said he had dated three different girls from Bandung.
“Three times I booked different girls. Their appearances were similar to the photos posted online,” Romeo said.
Romeo and Vava said they had paid Rp 1.25 million for their Platinum memberships, giving them premium access to all services. They first contacted customer support via text message and phone call, before transferring the money to an administrator’s account and obtaining their user name and password.
Police Nab University Student for Managing Prostitution Website | The Jakarta Globe