Outrage over sentence handed to 70 year old Aussie pedophile in Bali

You might remember reading about the 70-year-old Australian man who argued he shouldn’t be punished for sexually abusing young girls in Bali?

Read more: Why a 70yo Aussie accused of child sex abuse doesn’t think he should be punished

Well, he’s had his day in court and the sentence he’s been handed has outraged child rights activists.

Melbourne man Robert Fiddes Ellis was found guilty of molesting at least 11 girls in Bali since 2014.

The girls were aged between eight and 17 and were mostly street kids.

So, what jail sentence did he get?

You might expect the death penalty given that’s the sentence previously handed to drug smugglers from Australia?

That’s not the case for Ellis.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $200,000.

The Australian is reporting that while Denpasar District Court judge Wayan Sukanila argued that Ellis “damaged the future of his child victims”, he said he believed the 15 year sentence was appropriate.

“The defendant first lured his victims by taking them for sightseeing,” he said.

“The defendant would later buy the defendants food, bags, ­bicycles and money of varying amounts.

“The defendant has admitted his crimes and promised not to repeat them again.”

The 15-year sentence has frustrated child rights activists, who earlier this year successfully pushed for pedophilia to be punished by chemical castration and the death penalty.

It turns out Ellis couldn’t be sentenced to chemical castration or death because the laws came into effect after he was charged.

Ellis told reporters outside the court his fears of dying in prison.

“I am 70 now, it will take me to 85,” he said.

“I don’t know if I will live for that long.”

His lawyer intends to appeal the sentence.

Ellis once penned a letter to his lawyer arguing he shouldn’t be punished because “he paid the girls in full” – an estimated 20,000 rupiah ($20 each), according to prosecutors.

“I am solitary and unmarried and my sex instinct was not ministered to in my own country,” he wrote.

“In all probability my young friends desperately want me returned to them.”

Do you think Ellis’ sentence is adequate?