An orphanage staff claimed trial over 100 charges involving 34 sexual offence cases against two children at the Ipoh Sessions/Magistrate Court today (June 3).
The accused, Emeer Ahmad Ahmad Jaafar, 35, pleaded not guilty in front of Judge N. Priscilla Hemamalini.
According to facts of the case, out of 100 charges, 98 are sexual offences where the accused purportedly physically molested the victims, siblings aged 13 and 10 who are also occupants of the orphanage he is working at.
The remaining two charges are offences where the accused purportedly exposed his genitals to the same victims.
He allegedly committed all of the offences between November 1, 2020 until April 9 earlier this year at several locations, two of which were the orphanage centre and an apartment in Cameron Highlands.
For the 98 offences, the accused was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. Punishment entails imprisonment of up to 20 years and whipping, if convicted.
The remaining two offences are under Section 15(a) of the same Act. Punishment entails imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to RM20,000, or both, if convicted.
The court ordered for a RM34,000 bail (RM1,000 for each case) with a surety. The accused was represented by lawyer Robert S. Gnanarajan.
The case was fixed for re-mention on September 3 as requested by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Waffy Ismail, following the accused’s release from quarantine on May 27 after having tested positive for COVID-19 recently.
Everyone involved in the session, including the accused, were clad in face shields and personal protective equipment (PPE). Three health staff were involved to ensure safety of the case’s proceedings.
After the session ended, the premises of the court were immediately sanitised.
Chris Teh
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