Jobless man claims trial to child porn charges

KULAI: The unemployed man charged with abducting and illegally confining a six-year-old girl last month claimed trial to seven more charges at the Magistrate's Court here.

Leang Win Son claimed trial to the seven charges, which includes the possession of obscene material involving children.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were read to him in Mandarin in front of Magistrate Azureen Sahira Sauffee Afandi here on Thursday (Aug 8).

Based on the charge sheet, Leang was charged with possessing long pillows with pictures of naked women and children, long pillows with pictures of children in shorts and replicas of women's private parts.

He allegedly committed all the offenses at his family's house along Jalan Bunga Raya 2 in Taman Sri Kulai here at around 4pm on July 24.

For all the offences, he was charged under Section 292 of the Penal Code, which provides a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine or both upon conviction.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nor Fadilah Johanuddin, who prosecuted the case, then asked the court to set a bail of RM21,000 for all the offences.

However, the accused's lawyer Nur Zafirah Norizan asked the court to grant a minimum bail because Leang was unemployed and is fully supported by his mother who earns about RM3,000 a month.

The court then set bail at RM10,000 for all seven charges and set Sept 10 for the mention of the case.

Earlier, the accused also pleaded not guilty to eight charges in the Johor Baru Sessions Court for kidnapping, wrongful confinement and sexual abuse in addition to possessing obscene material.

On July 20, a six-year-old girl was reported missing by her family members at 8.30pm when they were at the Eco Galleria shopping centre in Iskandar Puteri.

The child was later found safe in a budget hotel in Batang Kali, Selangor on July 23 and the accused was also arrested at the same time and location.