KOTA KINABALU, Jan 12 — Sabah politician Phillip Among was today sentenced to 16 months’ jail and fined RM14,000 after being found guilty of four counts of molesting an Unduk Ngadau pageant contestant in 2021.
The 53-year-old Putatan parliamentary coordinator with Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) was the technical head of the Unduk Ngadau pageant at the time, and has been suspended from his party position since the initial police report over the alleged sexual assault.
The offences were said to have occurred in a single in May 2021 between 2pm and 10pm at multiple locations around the city.
The locations were listed as a staircase near Ever Best Photo in Asia City; at the Studio Darvel Bay Borneo Holidays Sdn Bhd in Asia City; inside a moving vehicle while travelling from a dinner venue to a place that was at that time an office; and at an office in Metro Town.
Phillip claimed trial to all four charges on June 10, 2021, which started on April 12, 2022.
He was ordered to defend himself on December 12, 2024, after the court ruled that the prosecution had established prima facie.
For the first, second and fourth charges, Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin sentenced Phillip to nine months’ imprisonment and a RM3,000 fine for each charge, with eight months’ jail in default.
For the third charge, Phillip was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment and a RM5,000 fine, with eight months’ jail in default.
The total sentence amounted to 43 months but Phillip will only have to serve 16 months in prison after the magistrate ordered the jail terms to run concurrently from the date of conviction.
The magistrate granted a stay of execution of the jail sentence pending an appeal to the High Court, but ordered that all fines be paid today.
Last month, Phillip was convicted of molesting an 18-year-old girl at a capsule hotel on April 17, 2021, and was sentenced to eight months’ jail and fined RM5,000.
