KOTA KINABALU: A 50-year-old granduncle with schizophrenia was jailed for six years by the Sessions Court here yesterday for uttering obscene words against two girls.
Judge Azreena Aziz imposed the sentence on the man after finding him guilty of the offence in a full trial.
He had uttered words for sexual purposes with the intention that such words would be heard by a three-year-old girl and a five-year-old girl at a house in a village here at 1pm on September 20, 2017.
He received five years’ jail for the offence under Section 15 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and one year under Section 16 of the Act.
His offence under Section 16 of the Act was that of being in a “relationship of trust” with the girls as their granduncle.
The Section 15 (a)(i) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 provides for a maximum jail term of 10 years or a fine up to RM20,000 or both, upon conviction.
The Section 16 provides for a jail term of up to five years and whipping of not less than two strokes of the cane.
The judge ordered the sentences to run consecutively and advised the accused to refer to the prison personnel in case he needs treatment and medication.
In mitigation, defence counsel Kimberley Ye had highlighted that the accused was suffering from a mental disorder which is schizophrenia and he was in need of follow-up medical treatment here.
She said a long jail term would not be beneficial to the accused because he needed medical treatment and therefore, she requested the court to impose a short jail sentence, which is one year from the date of his arrest since the accused had been remanded since 2017.
However, deputy public prosecutor Nureen Natasha Mohd Raffie urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence against the accused by taking into consideration the relationship between the accused and the victims.
Nureen also said that the accused could request the prison to take him for treatment at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the court also allowed a stay of execution of the accused at the request of his counsel with a bail of RM10,000 in two local sureties, pending his appeal at the High Court.
Kimberley acted for the accused under the National Legal Aid Foundation.