37-Year-Old Teacher Charged With Molesting 5 Boys In A School In Sarawak
The victims are between the ages of 10 and 12.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 10 Oct 2017, 09:17 AM
A primary school teacher in Sarawak was slapped with 14 counts of molesting and outraging the modesty of five schoolboys
The suspect, Lai Chee Hiang, at the Petra Jaya Sessions Court yesterday, 9 October.
Image via Adib Povera/New Straits TimesThe perpetrator, Lai Chee Hiang, 37, was arrested at about 3pm on 2 October after two of the victims lodged police reports against him. Lai is a primary school teacher in Serian.
According to a report by New Straits Times, Lai claimed trial and pleaded not guilty to all charges pressed against him.
The first three charges were of him forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him at the school's student affairs office between May and August 2017
The three charges were under Section 377B of the Penal Code for committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature on the underage victim. If found guilty, Lai will be slapped with a jail sentence of no more than 20 years and whipping.
Lai was also charged with three counts of touching the same victim's private parts at a classroom in the school during the same three-month period. These charges were pressed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Crimes Against Children Act 2017 which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and whipping upon conviction.
The seventh and eighth charges against Lai was for touching the private parts of two other male students, who are 11 and 10 years old, respectively
The incident involving the 11-year-old boy happened in the same school's storeroom, while the 10-year-old was sexually assaulted in a classroom in the school. Both incidents happened in August 2017.
The ninth and tenth charges were for touching the private parts of another student, a 10-year-old boy in one of the school's classrooms, in the same month.
Lai's last victim is a 12-year-old boy. He had touched the boy's private parts in a classroom, in the same school sometime in July this year.
It was reported that the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and the 13th charges were pressed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Crimes Against Children Act 2017. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and whipping, upon conviction.
Meanwhile, the 11th, 12th, and 14th charges fell under Section 377E of the Penal Code for inciting a child to an act of gross indecency. If convicted, Lai will be have to serve a jail term of no more than five years and be liable for whipping.