Kuching High Court rejects paedophile’s appeal against 50-year jail sentence, 31 lashes

KUCHING (Aug 12): The High Court here today dismissed an appeal by paedophile Aladdin Lanim against his sentence of 50 years in jail and 31 strokes of the rotan for producing and preparing child pornography in the form of videos and photos using his phone and involving a 13-year-old boy in the acts.

Judge Leonard David Shim rejected the 43-year-old’s application seeking to overturn his conviction handed down by the Kuching Sessions Court.

In passing the sentence, Shim said the court found that the sentences imposed by the learned Sessions Court judges were not manifestly excessive and in accordance with the law.

Last January, Sessions Court Judge Iris Awen Jon sentenced Aladdin to 22 years in jail and 10 strokes of the rotan, five years in jail and three lashes, and 13 years in jail and eight strokes after he pleaded guilty to three charges.

For the first charge under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Against Child Act (SOACA) 2017, Aladdin was convicted of producing child pornography in the form of videos and photos from his mobile phone.

The second charge under Section 6 of the SOACA 2017 saw him convicted for preparing child pornography with his mobile phone.

The third charge framed under Section 7 of the SOACA 2017 was for using the 13-year-old boy in the preparation and production of the pornography.

The three offences were committed in a quarters in Biawak between Aug 13, 2018, and Dec 6, 2020.

Sessions Court Judge Musli Ab Hamid sentenced Aladdin to 10 years in prison and 10 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to using a 9-year-old boy in the preparation and production of pornography on Sept 7, 2019, at the same quarters.

Based on the facts of the case, on July 5, 2021, police raided the quarters and arrested Aladdin after finding his mobile phone, which contained child pornography in the form of videos and photos.

The investigation found that the photos and videos were produced by Aladdin, using the older victim.

In committing the crime, Aladdin had given the victim another mobile phone to play games on while he recorded videos and took photos of himself sucking the child’s private part.

While using the victim to produce the pornography, he also made the victim’s younger brother, who was nine at the time, witness the acts.

Deputy public prosecutor Danial Ilham Kamaruddin handled the prosecution while Aladdin was represented by lawyer Chai Yun Hui.