JAKARTA - The Japanese Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday warned its nationals in or traveling to Indonesia not to engage in sexual exploitation of children, saying offenders would be prosecuted not only in the country but also at home.
The stark warning comes after local news reports about social media posts in Japanese suggesting that people from Japan have committed such acts in Jakarta and elsewhere in the Southeast Asian country.
In the warning posted on its website, the embassy said that local authorities can investigate anyone suspected of violating the child protection law or committing rape, noting that sex with a minor can be prosecuted as rape even if consent is expressed.
Japanese nationals who exploit minors in Indonesia will also face prosecution in Japan over violations of the domestic law for protecting children, it added.
There have been social media posts seemingly boasting about episodes of sexual exploitation of minors in Jakarta and its surrounding areas despite knowing they were under 18 years old.
On Wednesday, Jakarta police said their cybercrime unit was investigating a case in the southern part of the capital that had been alluded to in a social media post.
The Japanese Embassy in Laos posted a similar warning on its website last year for its nationals visiting the Southeast Asian country.
