Man claims trial to kidnapping 6-year-old girl in Johor
JOHOR BAHRU – An unemployed man has been charged at the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru with abducting and illegally confining a six-year-old girl in July.
Leang Win Son, 31, however, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him in Mandarin in front of Sessions Judge Rasidah Ruslee here on Aug 8.
According to the charge sheet, the accused, who is single, allegedly abducted the child from her mother at the Eco Galleria mall in Iskandar Puteri around 8.30pm on July 20.
He was charged under Section 363 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.
Leang was also charged with wrongfully confining the child inside a hotel room in Batang Kali, Selangor, around 4.45am on July 23.
The accused claimed trial to the two charges, and Judge Rasidah set bail at RM20,000 (S$5,900) and ordered the accused to surrender his passport to the court.
She also ordered the accused to report to the nearest police station once a month until the case is over and not to disturb any of the prosecution witnesses.
Leang is believed to have tendencies of sexual misconduct towards children, said Johor police.
State police chief M. Kumar said this was based on materials, including child pornographic materials, found in his house in Kulai.
“We are not using the term paedophile as that is a clinical term that requires confirmation from medical experts,” he said in a press conference at the Johor police headquarters here on Aug 8.
Mr Kumar was responding to a reporter’s question on the motive behind the kidnapping.
“We believe that he did not target his victim randomly and had been observing her before abducting her,” he said, adding that the kidnapping was also believed to have been planned earlier.
He added that Leang did not have any criminal records prior to the incident.
Leang is also facing six other charges in the same court.
Johor prosecution director Ghafar Ab Latif is prosecuting the case, while lawyers, Ungku Ahmad Hafis Ungku Fathil and Nur Zafirah Norizan, represent the accused.
The victim’s mother and other family members were seen inside the courtroom to hear the proceedings.
The accused was later brought to the Kulai Magistrate’s Court under police escort to face additional charges.
On Aug 4, Leang was rearrested following the discovery of various sex toys, adult pornographic material and child sexual abuse material at his residence in Kulai.
He was under remand for further investigation.
Previously, the suspect was remanded for 13 days from July 23 until Aug 5 to assist in investigations before being released on police bail. – THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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