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Australian jailed for child sex hangs himself

12 May 2004, DENPASAR - An Australian hanged himself in his prison cell in Indonesia's Bali island, a day after being jailed for 13 years for paedophile offences, police said. The body of William Stuart Brown, 52, will be taken from the eastern town of Amlapura to the island's capital Denpasar for an autopsy, said Bali police spokeswoman Andi Arwita. She said an initial police examination indicated the death was suicide.
Brown's lawyer I Nengah Maharsa told AFP the body was suspended from a strip of material which had been torn from a mattress at the state prison in Amlapura. Brown, a teacher of English and a former Australian diplomat, had appeared shocked when he received his heavy sentence on Tuesday in the town. "He was hysterical when he was taken from the court to the jail, cursing and shouting in his language. We had to restrain and calm him," said police Commissioner Rai Sudiani, the district detective chief.
"He said in the Indonesian language that he was not satisfied with the sentence," Sudiana told AFP. "I do not know what happened after the jail official took over, but the report I received said that he hanged himself with fabric torn from the cloth cover of his mattress from the bars of a high window in the cell bathroom." The Australian consulate in the resort island said it was trying to contact the family and provide normal consular assistance.
Brown was convicted of having sex with two boys aged 14 and 16. He had reacted emotionally as sentence was passed and as spectators applauded. "Bastards!" Brown shouted at the public gallery, raising his fists and apparently quivering with rage. Chief judge I Wayan Sutama said he had "created an image that Bali is heaven for paedophiles" and had traumatised his victims. The sentence was one year more than prosecutors demanded and two years less than the legal maximum under a new child protection law.
Alit said he had spoken with the father of one victim and "he is satisfied with this sentence." Brown was a second secretary with the foreign aid section in the Australian embassy in Jakarta from 1982 to 1984. He was recalled before his posting was due to finish. Prosecutors had said that on January 1 Brown took the 16-year-old swimming and then forced him to have sex. He gave the boy 5,000 rupiah (60 cents) and warned him not to tell anyone.
They said Brown repeated the act with both children on January 4. He gave them each 20,000 rupiah and the same warning. But the parents of the 16-year-old reported the incident to police.