KOTA KINABALU: A senior citizen was sentenced to four years jail and a stroke of the rotan for committing physical sexual harassment against a minor.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus also ordered Nasib @ Mohd Yusof Ismail, 68, to undergo counselling during his detention and to be placed under police supervision for three years after completing his sentence.
Elsie made the decision after finding Nasib guilty of committing the offence against a 7-year-old girl between Oct 20, and 21, 2020 at 5am at a house in a village in Kota Belud.
The offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 provides for a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping, on conviction.
The prosecution had called five witnesses in the hearing during the prosecution stage while two witnesses testified during the defence stage.
In mitigation, the unrepresented accused asked for leniency saying among others that he and his wife were having health problems.
"I stand with my words that I am still innocent," he said.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tham Pou Jin urged for a deterrent sentence due to the seriousness of the offence.
Tham pointed the incident happened when the accused and his family were staying at the home of the victims' grandmother when their house was flooded
