Three nabbed in Sandakan for having unnatural sex with teenager

KOTA KINABALU: Three men have been arrested in Sandakan on suspicion of having unnatural sex with a teenager.

Sandakan acting district police chief Supt Ramasamy Kuppan said the victim, aged 14 years and nine months, had sought treatment at the Duchess of Kent Hospital.

"He lodged a police report on Sept 23, prompting an investigation under Section 377B of the Penal Code. Subsequently, three men aged from 29 to 34 were arrested," he said.

Initial investigations revealed that the teenager, a student at a secondary school in Sandakan, befriended the three men on social media and paid the victim to have unnatural intercourse.

He added the trio was charged in the Sandakan Sessions Court on Monday (Oct 7).

Two suspects pleaded guilty but the third claimed trial.

Supt Ramasamy said Saharuddin Amirullah, a 32-year-old local man who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years' jail and one stroke of the cane to charges under Section 377B of the Penal Code for committing sexual intercourse against the order of nature.

The other accused, Ryan Caballero, a 34-year-old Filipino man, pleaded guilty to charges under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for sexually abusing a child and was sentenced to five years in prison and one stroke of the cane.

He was also ordered to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving his sentence.

Another local man, Mohd Zairi Awang, 29, who pleaded not guilty to charges under Section 377B of the Penal Code, had his case scheduled for mention on Nov 11.