PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld the 15-year jail sentence and 14 strokes of the cane imposed on a former religious teacher for seven counts of committing physical sexual assault on a Year Six pupil four years ago.
The man’s appeal against his jail sentence was struck out by the three-member panel of judges led by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail.
Justice Hadhariah, who sat with Justices Azman Abdullah and Azmi Ariffin, said the teacher’s conviction and jail sentence were affirmed.
“A mature adult should be a good example to the young, especially students,” she said, Bernama reported.
The former teacher, aged 50, was convicted by the Sessions Court on Oct 11, 2021, on seven charges.
These charges relate to the teacher’s breach of trust as a person in a position of authority, namely a teacher, by engaging in physical sexual assault against a 12-year-old boy in Shah Alam, Selangor, between Sept 21 and Oct 5, 2019.
The man was sentenced to 15 years’ jail and two strokes of the cane for each charge.
He was ordered to serve the sentence concurrently from the date of his arrest on Oct 7, 2019, which means he will serve a prison term of 15 years and be given 14 strokes of the cane.
The Sessions Court also ordered him to undergo rehabilitation counselling for 10 years pursuant to Section 26(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 as well as under police supervision for three years after he completed the jail sentence.
He lost his appeal, which was dismissed by the High Court on Aug 12 last year.
