KLANG, Aug 19 ― A man who previously pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of his wife and daughter between 2015 and this year, changed his plea to not guilty at the Sessions Court here, today.

The 43-year-old accused, who works as a lorry driver, changed his plea after the two charges were read out to him again by the court interpreter before Judge Roszianayati Ahmad.

On the first count, the father of four was charged with sexually exploiting his wife, aged 37, at a water treatment plant and a condominium unit at 2 Batu 9 Cheras between January 2015 and May 2019.

On the second count, the man was charged with sexually exploiting his daughter, aged 13, at the same condominium unit, between January 2019 until February this year.

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The charges were framed under Section 13(b) and 14 of the Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, which provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and shall also be liable to fine, if found guilty.

The lawyer representing the accused, Gabriel Susayan said his client changed his plea as he had previously not understood the charges read out and the punishment that would be imposed on him, if he pleaded guilty.

“Before this, the accused did not have the opportunity to appoint a lawyer, In accordance with Article 5 (3) of the Federal Constitution, the accused has the right to a lawyer.

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“... and we offer free legal aid to the accused. We will do our best to handle the case,” he said.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohammad Safarizal Zakaria appeared for the prosecution.

The court set Sept 21 for case management. ― Bernama