Main suspect in Albertine's abduction to face 15 charges Aug 8, says police

JOHOR BARU: The main suspect involved in the abduction of six-year-old Albertine Leo Jia Hui will face a total of 15 charges, says Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar.

He added that the suspect would be brought to the Johor Baru Court Complex and the Kulai Magistrate's Court tomorrow (Aug 8) to be charged.

“The police have referred two investigation papers involving the suspect with abducting a child on July 20 at Eco Galleria to the Johor deputy public prosecution office.

“We have received instructions that there are a total of 15 charges against the suspect,” he said in a statement here on Wednesday (Aug 7) night here.

Comm Kumar added that of the 15 charges, one charge is under Section 363 of the Penal Code for abducting a child and one is under Section 346 of the same Act for wrongfully confining a person.

He said the suspect would also face seven charges under Section 292 of the same Act for possessing pornographic materials and four charges under Section 8(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

“The suspect will also face one charge each under Section 10 and Section 15(a)(ii) of the same Act,” he said.

On Sunday, the suspect was re-arrested following the discovery of various sex toys, adult pornographic material, and child sexual abuse material at his residence in Kulai.

He is under remand to allow further investigation under Section 10 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and Section 292 of the Penal Code.

Previously, the suspect was remanded for 13 days from July 23 until Monday (August 5) to assist in investigations under Section 365 of the Penal Code and Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 before being released on police bail.

Albertine was reported missing by her father on July 20 at a shopping mall in Iskandar Puteri before she was found safe at a budget hotel in Batang Kali, Selangor on July 23.