KUCHING, July 31 — The High Court here today allowed in part the appeal of a 54-year-old man convicted of sexually assaulting his 13-year-old stepdaughter by ordering his three prison sentences to run concurrently instead of consecutively.

This reduced the 54-year-old’s total imprisonment term from 54 years to 18 years.

He was previously sentenced by the Kuching Sessions Court on October 31, 2025 to a total of 54 years’ imprisonment and 24 strokes of the cane.

The Sessions Court imposed 18 years’ imprisonment for each of the three charges and ordered the sentences to run consecutively.

The man was sentenced after pleading guilty to three charges under Subsection 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (Soaca) 2017 for physical sexual assault on a child, read together with Section 16(1) of the same Act.

High Court Judge Wong Siong Tung upheld the 18-year jail term for each charge faced by the stepfather, but ordered the three prison sentences to run concurrently instead of consecutively, as previously decided by the Sessions Court.

He also imposed two strokes of the cane for each charge, bringing the total to six strokes.

In passing sentence, Wong maintained the order requiring the man to undergo rehabilitative counselling throughout his imprisonment and to be placed under police supervision for two years after completing his sentence.

In his judgment, Wong said, among others, that the offences involved the same victim, location, and conduct, and were committed over three consecutive days in circumstances that were closely linked.

He also took into consideration the appellant’s age of 53 when he was sentenced.

The judge said that if the 54-year prison term was served consecutively, the appellant would only complete his sentence after reaching more than 100 years old, making the punishment excessive and disproportionate.

According to the charges, the stepfather committed the offences against the teenage girl on October 4, 5, and 6, 2025, at about 10pm, in a bedroom of a house in Bau.

The facts of the case stated that the victim lodged a police report saying that that her stepfather had fondled her breasts and private part.

It is understood that the accused had sexually abused her since she was eight years old.

Police subsequently arrested the accused on October 25, 2025.

Investigations later confirmed that during the three-day period, the accused had entered the victim’s bedroom at around 10pm and sexually assaulted her.

Deputy public prosecutor Nor Azhari Yusof appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyer Patrick Voon. — The Borneo Post