KOTA KINABALU: A former religious teacher was sentenced to a total of 28 years' imprisonment plus four strokes of the cane for two counts of committing sexual offences against his male pupils in 2018.
The 46-year-old, who cannot be named in order to protect the victims, pleaded guilty before Sessions Court judge Azreena Aziz to committing both offences under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children 2017, read with Section 16(1) of the same act.
Punishment under Section 14 carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, while additional punishment under Section 16 provides a jail term of up to five years and whipping, upon conviction.
The accused admitted to performing oral sex against two boys aged 12 at a school's quarters in Sipitang on April 18 and 28, 2018, respectively.
For each of the charges, the accused was jailed 12 years and received another additional two years plus two strokes of the rotan.
The court also ordered the accused, who was sacked as a teacher on April 29, 2019, to serve his jail term consecutively and to be placed under police supervision for two years after completing his sentence.
The facts of the case stated that the accused was known as an ustaz who taught Islamic Studies and Physical Education at the school.
The accused had brought both the victims to the said place on different days. One of the victims was given a cigarette and alcoholic drink before the accused committed the offence against him.
Both victims did not do anything because they feared for their safety. However, the two boys later told their parents about the incident which led to the arrest of the accused.
During mitigation, the unrepresented accused only asked for his jail sentence to run concurrently.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor Adibah Saiful Bahri urged for a deterrent sentence taking into consideration the seriousness of the offence.
Adibah said the accused was a teacher when he committed the offence against his pupils. It clearly showed that the accused abused his position as a school teacher.
Furthermore, she told the court that the accused has a previous conviction for committing a similar offence against another schoolboy.
"The offence was committed in 2018, and the accused was convicted on Feb 25, this year. He was sentenced to a total of 15 years plus two strokes of the cane," she said.