TAWAU: An elderly Australian citizen was freed from a charge of physical sexual harassment against a 13-year-old girl after the Tawau High Court on Thursday allowed his appeal to overturn the conviction and five-year prison sentence.
Judge Datuk Duncan Sikodol made the decision for Jack Kwong, 75, who appealed against the sentence and conviction imposed on him by the Sessions Court Judge.
In his judgment on Thursday, Duncan stated that although a conviction can be based on uncorroborated testimony of a child under Section 18 of the Act, the trial judge must exercise caution when convicting solely based on a child’s testimony.
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');});He added that the prosecution’s failure to call the victim’s mother and her aunty who were key witnesses, left several unanswered reasonable doubts.
On Sept 26, 2024, Kwong was sentenced to five years’ jail after the Tawau Sessions Court found that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted Kwong.
He was accused of physically sexually assaulting the victim at a house in Taman Pick Yard, Jalan Mawar, here between 7.20am and 8am on May 20, 2023, by allegedly kissing and molesting her.
The offence 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.
This case involved a cross-appeal, with the prosecution appealing the length of the prison term, while Kwong appealed against his conviction and sentence.
Kwong was formerly a Malaysian citizen before obtaining Australian citizenship, and he reportedly returned to the country every two years to visit friends.