KOTA KINABALU: An undocumented man was sentenced to 33 years in jail plus two strokes of the cane on two counts of molesting two minors, by the Sessions Court here.
Judge Azreena Aziz imposed the sentences after Selamat Asing, 53, pleaded guilty to both charges under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
The punishment provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.
In the first charge, Selamat was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for inserting his finger into the private parts of an eight-year-old victim at an unnumbered house in a village in Sipitang on Aug 4, 2020 at 4pm.
For the second charge, he received another 18 years imprisonment plus two strokes of the cane for committing a similar offence to another child, aged seven at another unnumbered house in the same village in Sipitang between April 1, 2020 and Aug 18, 2020.
The court ordered the custodial sentences to run concurrently from today, the date of conviction, and thereafter to be referred to the Immigration Department for his biometrics data to be recorded before deportation.
In seeking leniency, Selamat asked for his jail sentences to run concurrently and for him to be deported back to his country of origin soon.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor Siti Hajar Mazlan urged for a deterrent sentence taking into consideration the seriousness of the offence and the fact that the accused has previous convictions in committing similar offences.
On Monday, the accused was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for two counts of molesting two siblings.
On the first count, Selamat was jailed 10 years for committing the offence by touching and inserting his finger into a seven-year-old girl's private part in a house at a village in Sipitang between April and Aug 2020.
On the second count, he was jailed 10 years for committing the same offence against a five-year-old girl at the same place and time.
The same judge ordered Selamat to serve the jail sentence consecutively from the date of his arrest on Aug 19, 2020.