Serian school assistant claims trial to six charges of sexually assaulting OKU students

KUCHING (Dec 1): A school assistant claimed trial in the Kota Samarahan Sessions Court here today to six charges of sexually assaulting six pupils with special needs.

The 43-year-old man from Sebuyau was charged under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which is punishable under Section 14 of the same Act and read together with Section 16 of the same Act.

The Section provides for an imprisonment term not exceeding 20 years and liable to whipping, upon conviction.

Based on the charges, the school assistant allegedly committed sexual assault on four girls and two boys, aged between 11 and 14, in several separate incidents occurring between March and November this year, at a primary school in Serian.

It is said that he had touched the private parts of the pupils who were among those with learning difficulties, physical problems and autism.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Aiman Mutalib Mohamad Shariff requested for a new date to be set for case management as the accused pleaded not guilty.

Judge Shafiza Datu Abdul Razak Tready allowed the application and set Jan 8 next year for case management.

The judge also allowed the accused to be released on RM8,000 bail with two local sureties for each charge pending the date.

In a separate case, another teacher of a secondary school in Serian was released on police bail after an application to extend his remand was rejected by Judge Shafiza.

The 48-year-old man had been on remand from Nov 23 to Dec 1 this year, to facilitate investigations into a sexual assault case at the school, involving three male students aged between 14 and 15 years.

The accused was represented by Lawyer Shankar Ram and Yu Ying Ying.