SIBU, Oct 9 — A 21-year-old man was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and two strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here yesterday after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault against his own nephew.
The accused was charged under Section 14(a) of Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, punishable under Section 14 of the same Act.
The section provides for an imprisonment not exceeding 20 years and/or whipping upon conviction.
According to the charge, the accused physically sexually assaulted his 11-year old nephew in March at a house in Sentosa Barat Road.
He also faced another charge for sexual assault against his six-year-old niece, for which he pleaded not guilty.
According to facts of the case, on July 24 and 25, the manager of an orphanage found out that both children were sodomised by their uncle at their grandmother’s house.
The accused was arrested on July 25 following police report made by the manager.
Investigation revealed that the children are siblings and were sent to the orphanage by their grandmother after their mother passed away, and would stay at their grandmother’s house during school holidays.
Both victims claimed that the accused sexually assaulted them in March.
In his mitigation, the accused told the court that he felt remorseful of his crime and pleaded for lenient sentence.
He asked for only whipping to be imposed as he was afraid to go to jail.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Arif Aizuddin Masrom told the court that this is a tortuous crime against innocent children.
He said the victim is an orphan seeking protection at the orphanage as he had no one to protect him after his mother passed away.
“Supposedly as an adult who was given the responsibilities of taking care of these less fortunate children, the accused instead pried on them. This is totally unacceptable,” he said.
He said the court must send a strong message by passing a sentence that reflects the seriousness of the crime committed.
“Only with heavy imprisonment and number of whippings can the sentence truly reflect the seriousness of the crime committed by the accused in this case,” he said.
Judge Caroline Bee Majanil accepted the accused guilty plea to the crime committed against his nephew.
She thus sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment and two strokes of the cane with effect from the date of arrest.
The accused is to be brought to the court again on Oct 22 for pre-trial case management for the charge against his niece. — Borneo Post Online
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