KOTA KINABALU: A divorcee who brutally sexually-assaulted his girlfriend was sentenced to a total of 45 years' imprisonment and 18 strokes of the rotan.
Stelle Kintoh, 24, pleaded guilty before Sessions Court judge Elsie Primus to three counts of sexual offences.
On the first count, Stelle was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment plus 10 lashes for raping the 22-year-old woman in April, at 7am in the kitchen of a house in Kota Marudu.
The offence under Section 376(2)(b) of the Penal Code provides for a maximum prison sentence of 30 years and whipping upon conviction.
He received another 10 years in jail plus three strokes for forcing the victim to perform oral sex on him at the same time and place.
The offence under Section 377A of the Penal Code provides for a maximum 20 years' imprisonment and whipping.
On the last charge, Stelle was sentenced to 15 years' jail plus five strokes of the cane for committing sexual connection by object also at the same time and place.
The offence under Section 377CA of the Penal Code provides imprisonment of up to 30 years and whipping on conviction.
The court further ordered the accused to be placed under police supervision for three years after serving his sentence.
The accused was ordered to run his custodial sentence concurrently from the date of arrest on April 14.
The facts of the case stated that the accused committed the crimes out of dissatisfaction.
The accused initially asked the victim to strip naked and do what she had done with her ex-boyfriend before brutally sexually assaulting her.
The victim managed to escape from the accused's home and lodged a police report on April 14 about the incident which led to the accused's arrest on the same day at 1.30pm at his house.
Further investigation revealed that apart from sexually assaulting the victim, he had also slapped and spit on the victim who was crying in pain and fear.
During mitigation, the unrepresented accused asked for leniency and permission to inform his family about his imprisonment.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor Tham Pou Jin urged for a deterrent sentence considering the nature, gravity, and seriousness of the offence committed by the accused.
In this case, Tham said it involved a series of multiple domestic abuses and sexual assaults which traumatised the victim.
Tham also listed out more than 10 heinous acts done by the accused towards the victim including threatening the victim with her naked pictures and sex recordings which were taken by the accused himself.