A Burlington man jailed in Indonesia on sex abuse charges has been acquitted, ending a chapter in a series of events that shook one of the country’s most prestigious schools, his brother told the Star.

After more than one year in custody, Neil Bantleman’s name has been cleared in an appeal hearing in Jakarta on Friday morning, local time, Guy Bantleman said.

In a brief phone interview, Guy said his brother will be a free man in as soon as 12 hours.

Neil Bantleman, a school administrator, was sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for allegedly raping three boys at what was then known as the Jakarta International School between 2013 and last year.

In a previous interview with the Star, Bantleman said he wanted to get out of Indonesia as soon as possible if his name was cleared.

Bantleman’s acquittal followed two legal victories, which a lawyer for Bantleman said had had an effect on the appeal.

This week, an Indonesian court dismissed a $125-million (U.S.) civil suit launched by one of the boys’ mothers against the school that was based on the allegations.

Last month, a judge in neighbouring Singapore formally ruled against one of Bantleman’s accusers, another mother, in a defamation suit.

Neil Bantleman was jailed along with a co-accused, an Indonesian teaching assistant, Ferdinant Tjiong, who faces the same charges and is also acquitted at the same hearing. The men have steadfastly denied the claims against them in a case fraught with otherworldly accusations and procedural irregularities.

Among other accusations, Bantleman was said to have produced a magical stone from the air and used it as anesthesia as he abused one of the boys.

The case was also subject to a rare media ban. Judge Nur Aslam Bustaman had forbade those involved in the trial from disclosing details to media, completely cutting off the already closed-door proceedings. Canadian consular officials have also been repeatedly shut out.

Lynne Yelich, Canada’s minister of state for foreign and consular affairs, has said the government has been following the case closely and has long called for a fair and transparent trial.

Bantleman and Tjiong were dragged into an already ongoing sexual abuse case last July when they were named in a case involving six janitors at the school who allegedly sexually abused children. Bantleman then alleged he and Tjiong were subjected to shady investigative practices and denied consular access.

The janitors — one of whom died in custody — have since been tried. According to local media, they have recanted their initial confessions, claiming they were tortured. They were jailed between seven to eight years.

During Bantleman and Tjiong’s trial, defence argued the allegations against them were simply a means to bolster the $125-million civil suit against the school, which was already underway.

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It is not yet known what effect Bantleman and Tjiong’s acquittal will have on the fates of the janitors.

With files from Associated Press

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