Man Whose Extortion Led To A Penang Teen's Suicide Has Been Jailed For 21 Months
The 20-year-old man threatened to leak the 17-year-old victim's private photos on Facebook. On his mobile, police found explicitly edited photos of other women.
By Sadho Ram — 20 Aug 2020, 11:19 AM
20-year-old G. Vieshnuu, who acted to extort a 17-year-old girl by threatening to upload her private photos, pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal intimidation and one count of possession of pornographic materials at the Magistrate's Court in Balik Pulau yesterday, 19 August
Following his guilty plea, the 20-year-old accused was sentenced at the Magistrate's Court for the three charges. Of which, two are under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation and the third one is under Section 292(a) of the same code for possession of pornographic materials.
While he was sentenced to five years' jail in total, the unemployed man will only spend 21 months behind bars as Magistrate Khalijah Mohd Khalid ordered the prison sentence to run concurrently.
The 17-year-old girl from Penang jumped to her death from an apartment building on 10 August.
Here's a breakdown of the sentencing imposed by the court
The accused was sentenced to 19 months in jail for the first intimidation charge.
According to New Straits Times, he admitted to criminal intimidation against the victim's 29-year-old sister by threatening to circulate the teenager's private photos on social media on 3 August.
Vieshnuu was sentenced to 20 months in jail for the second intimidation charge.
The accused had called up the victim's mother and demanded to speak to her, claiming that is her boyfriend. When his demand was denied, he threatened to publicise the teen's private photos.
He was sentenced to 21 months in jail for the third count for the offence of possessing pornographic materials in the form of videos and photos inside his cellphone and trying to disseminate obscene material.
All three sentencing comes together at five years along with RM17,000 fine in total. However, due to the jail sentences ordered to run concurrently, Vieshnuu will only spend one year and nine months in jail.
According to New Straits Times' reporter Audrey Dermawan, Vieshnuu looked like he was in a daze when Magistrate Khalijah sentenced him
Prior to the sentencing, his counsel Jeorge Sheak had urged the Magistrate to impose a minimum fine to serve as a lesson instead of a jail term, saying that "if he is sentenced to imprisonment, I hope the court can convert it to three months of community service as punishment instead".
According to Sheak, Vieshnuu regretted his actions after spending two weeks in remand and immediately pleaded guilty to the charges at the first available opportunity.
"While I understand the severity of the offence, I hope my client will be given a second chance to turn over a new leaf. I believe my client should be rehabilitated instead of punished," he said.
However, deputy public prosecutor Rais Imran Hamid pressed for a deterrent sentence.
Previously, the 20-year-old was arrested from Kuala Kangsar, where police found explicitly edited photos of other women on his mobile:
