Kota Kinabalu: A 48-year-old man was charged with committing physical sexual harassment against a nine-year-old girl.
Lai Hiap Lee pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus to the charge against him.
He is accused of committing the offence by squeezing the girl’s breasts in the evening on May 18 this year at a premises in Jalan Kobusak Nosoob, Penampang.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});Lai, a jobless, was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, on conviction.
The court set July 2 for pre-trial case management and released Lai on bail of RM5,000 in two local sureties.
The court also ordered Lai to report to the nearest police station once a month and his passport, if any, to be kept by the court until the disposal of his case.
Lai was also reminded to not tamper or communicate with the prosecution witnesses, otherwise his bail would be revoked.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sofiah Sawayan appeared for the prosecution while counsel Jagnesh Jaya defended Lai.