JOHOR BARU: A former shipping mechanic has been charged with four counts of rape, recording a sexual act, sexual assault and possession of child pornography involving his niece, who was seven years old at the time.
The 41-year-old father of three claimed trial to all four charges against him at the Sessions Court after they were read out to him before judge VM Mabel Sheela.
In the first charge, he was accused of raping the victim, who was then aged seven, at a house in Jalan Rawa 1 in Taman Perling here at about 1.30am on Aug 1, 2018.
The charge was under Section 376(2)(e) of the Penal Code, which carries a sentence of not more than 30 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction.
The accused also pleaded not guilty to making child pornography involving the victim by recording the act on video at the same place and time.
He was charged under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (Act 792), which carries a sentence of not more than 30 years’ jail and no fewer than six strokes of the rotan.
The accused was also charged with sexually assaulting the victim at the same place and time, under Section 14(a) of the same Act, which is read together with Section 16(1) of the Act, and carries a maximum 20-year jail sentence and whipping upon conviction.
For the fourth charge, the man was accused of possessing a pen drive containing illicit videos and pictures of the victim at a house near Taman Nusantara in Iskandar Puteri at around 9pm on May 24 this year.
He was charged under Section 10 of the same Act, which carries a sentence of a maximum five years’ jail or a fine up to RM10,000 or both upon conviction.
The judge allowed bail at RM8,000 for all charges and ordered additional conditions such as prohibiting him from disturbing the victim and witnesses, getting him to hand over his passport to the court and for him to report to the police station every month. Mention was set for July 24.
The deputy public prosecutor was Nor Fadilah Johanuddin while the accused was represented by counsel Baharudin Baharim.
