TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Directorate General of Immigration has detained an American national named Taylor Kirby Whitemore for allegedly producing and selling pornographic content in Indonesia, featuring him and local residents.
"The foreigner was designated a suspect and has been detained at the Central Jakarta Class I Detention Center since Friday, May 16, 2025," said Acting Director General of Immigration Yuldi Yusman in a written statement on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Whitemore's arrest was based on cyber patrol findings of the immigration's digital forensic team on February 17, 2025. The officers discovered promotional posts of paid pornographic content under social media account @oliver_woodx, connected to a Telegram forum for similar content transactions.
Officers strongly suspected that the promoted videos were produced in Indonesia.
The cyber patrol team then traced the account owner using facial recognition technology integrated with the immigration system. As a result, the account owner was identified as Taylor Kirby Whitemore, a U.S. citizen residing in Bali on a visit stay permit.
"He has been put under a travel ban to prevent him from fleeing the country," said Yuldi.
On March 25, Whitemore was arrested by immigration officers at Bali's Ngurah Rai Immigration Office before leaving for Kuala Lumpur on Malindo Air OD172.
Subsequently, Whitemore was transferred to the immigration's detention room on April 9, 2025, for further investigation.
The digital forensic examination of Whitemore's electronic devices uncovered evidence that the X and Telegram accounts indeed belonged to him. His self-produced pornographic videos during his stay in Indonesia were also found on the devices.
Whitemore is charged under Article 122 paragraph (a) of Immigration Law Number 6 of 2011. "With a maximum imprisonment of 5 years and a maximum fine of Rp500 million."
Yuldi added that the directorate general of immigration is committed to enforcing immigration laws and protecting the nation's dignity from any form of violation by foreigners staying in Indonesia. "From January to April, 32 individuals have been processed by the courts," said Yuldi.
Cyber patrols were initiated by the directorate general of immigration to detain unruly foreigners by leveraging social media. "We exploit potential loopholes utilized by foreigners to violate Indonesian regulations," said Yuldi.
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