JOHOR BAHRU, March 13 — A 30-year-old technician was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 24 strokes of the cane at the Sessions Court and High Court here today for 10 counts of sexual assault, infant trafficking and recording a video of sexual abuse committed about two years ago.
Judges Mohd Zamir Suhaimee, Nor Aziati Jaafar and Madihah Zainol handed down the sentence after the accused, Muhammad Imran Abdullah, pleaded guilty to all charges after they were read out separately against him.
According to the first three charges, the accused was charged with trafficking two five-day-old baby girls and a seven-month-old baby boy for the purpose of exploitation in unlawful activities.
Muhammad Imran was charged with committing all the acts in Taman Melor, Tampoi here as well as Taman Kota Masai and Taman Scientex in Pasir Gudang between 9pm on March 11 and 12pm on November 24, 2024.
The charges were brought under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act 2007, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code for the common intention to commit a crime.
Meanwhile, for the other four charges, the accused was charged with committing physical sexual assault for gratification on three girls aged five to seven-years-old at the time of the incident under Sections 14(a) and 14(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
He is also facing three more charges, namely producing sexual abuse material by recording videos of the same three victims under Section 5 of the same Act.
All the acts were committed at a house in Kampung Pasir Putih, Pasir Gudang between 10.30am and 11am on April 5, 2024.
Deputy Public Prosecutors, Nur Diyana Zubir, Nor Fadilah Johanuddin and Nur Farah Wahida Shahudin conducted the prosecution, while the accused was represented by counsels Mohamed Imran Mohamed Sam and Haziq Ishak.
In the appeal proceedings, Muhammad Imran requested a lighter sentence as he has three young children and supports his ailing parents, besides regretting his actions and promising not to repeat them again.
However, the three-judge panel in their arguments requested that public interest be prioritised over the personal interests and also considered the traumatic effects on the young victims. They added that the offence committed by the accused was serious.
The court sentenced the accused to a total of 18 years in prison starting from his date of arrest on July 19 last year in addition to 24 strokes of the cane.
The court also ordered the accused to undergo rehabilitation counselling during that period and to be under police supervision for two years after his release.
