KOTA KINABALU: A National Registration Department (NRD) staff member was sentenced to 11 years in jail and one stroke of the cane for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy whom he had lured from Tawau under the guise of helping with an identification card application.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus found Sharif Hardi Roman Sh Miasin guilty after ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt against the accused, who committed the offence at the NRD building’s VVIP toilet here on Jan 4, 2022.
Sharif, who was then working at the Department, had used his position to contact the victim and persuade him to travel to the City before committing the act that traumatised the boy.
The court ordered Sharif to undergo rehabilitative counselling while serving his sentence and to be placed under police supervision for three years upon release, though a stay of execution was granted pending his appeal to the High Court.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Shafeerah Mad Iskim urged for a heavy sentence due to the gravity of the offence and its lasting impact on the victim, while defence counsel Datuk Rakhbir Singh pleaded for leniency, citing Sharif’s cooperation and first-offender status.
