SEREMBAN: A 47-year-old lorry attendant was sentenced to five years in jail by the Sessions Court here after pleading guilty to two counts of physically sexually assaulting his 10-year-old niece.
The accused did not contest the charges after they were read to him before Judge Surita Budin.
He was charged with committing the offences at a banana plantation in Nilai around 12.30pm in May last year.
The accused was charged under Section 14(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction, and Section 15(a)(i) of the same Act, which provides imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Surita sentenced him to five years in jail for the first offence and three years for the second, to run concurrently.
She also ordered the accused to undergo counselling while in prison and to remain under police supervision for one year upon release.
Earlier, the unrepresented accused pleaded for a lenient sentence, saying he was remorseful and needed to provide for his wife and five young children.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Balkis Zunaidi urged the court to impose a sentence commensurate with the crime, noting that as an uncle, he should have protected his niece but instead committed a heinous act against a child.
