Kota Kinabalu: A general worker was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison and two strokes of the cane after being found guilty of committing physical sexual assault against his stepchild.
The 38-year-old man was found guilty by Sessions Court Judge Monica Linsua on Wednesday.
In her ruling, the court found that the prosecution had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt and established all the essential elements of the charges.
The court also found that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.
The accused was found guilty of committing physical sexual assault against the victim at about 11am in Sept 2021 at an unnumbered house in Penampang.
The charges were framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (SOACA), read together with Section 16 of the same Act.
The court sentenced him to six years’ jail for the offence under Section 14(a), and one year in jail and two strokes of the cane for the offence under Section 16.
The court ordered both prison terms to run consecutively, making the total sentence seven years’ imprisonment and two strokes of the cane.
The court also ordered the accused to undergo rehabilitation counselling throughout his imprisonment and placed him under police supervision for two years after completing his sentence.
The court dismissed his application for a stay of execution and ordered him to begin serving his sentence on Wednesday.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses, while the defence called five witnesses.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Nurul Shafeerah Mad Iskim and Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir conducted the prosecution, while the accused was represented by Yong Pei Yi, Dianne Denson and Dicky Lo.
Section 14 provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and whipping, while Section 16 provides for an additional prison term of up to five years and whipping of not less than two strokes.
