Sentenced: Abdul Mutalib being led away from the court in Penang.
GEORGE TOWN: A primary school teacher was sentenced to 24 years in jail after he admitted to sexually abusing three pupils during class.
Abdul Mutalib Hussain, a religious studies teacher, was also ordered to be given six strokes of the rotan after he changed his plea to guilty.
The 42-year-old was charged with performing oral sex on three boys, aged eight to 10, between February 2017 and July 2018, at a classroom of a primary school here.
In December last year, Abdul Mutalib was charged under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act for physical abuse, which carries up to 20 years’ jail and whipping, as well as under Section 16 of the same Act for abuse of trust, which carries a maximum of five years’ jail, upon conviction.
At that time, he pleaded not guilty to both charges.
He changed his plea when his case came up for hearing yesterday.
Abdul Mutalib was sentenced separately by Sessions Court judges Mazdi Abd Hamid and Norsalha Hamzah to eight years’ jail and two strokes of the rotan for abusing each of the three boys.
Norsalha ordered Abdul Mutalib to serve the jail sentences concurrently.
During mitigation, lawyer Muhammad Arif Shaharuddin pleaded for a lighter sentence as his client had regretted his actions.
“It was his first offence.
“He is remorseful and wishes to correct his path.
“His guilty plea has also saved the court a lot of time,” said Muhammad Arif.
Deputy public prosecutors Nurul Fatin Hussain, Preeya Darrsini Sugumaran and Nabila Huda Muhammad Nazim represented the prosecution while lawyer Mohd Rafiee Noordin also appeared for the accused.
