KOTA KINABALU: A lorry attendant was sentenced to 16 years’ jail with two strokes of the rotan for sexually assaulting his stepdaughter, now 15, in 2023 and 2024.
Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain handed the 45-year-old his sentence for two counts of the offence after the latter changed his plea to guilty at the Sessions Court here, Tuesday (April 7).
For the first offence, the man was sentenced to eight years’ jail with a stroke of the rotan for sexually assaulting the girl, who was 13 at that time, in the living room of a house in Penampang at around 9pm, July 2023.
For the second offence, he was also handed the same punishment for committing the same offence to the girl at the kitchen area of the same house in June 2024, between 6pm and 7pm.
She was 14 at that time.
The court ordered for the sentences to run separately and the man was also required to undergo counselling throughout the duration of his imprisonment.
During the hearing, the man who was unpresented, asked for a lenient sentence as he had a family to care for.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir asked for a deterrent sentence as the man had committed a serious offence against his stepdaughter, whom he was supposed to protect and take care of.
He said this is not an isolated incident because the man committed the offence twice, which showed a pattern of continued exploitation towards the victim.
