School head jailed 20 years for pornography, sexual assault

 Court of Appeal also sentences Anuar Kintan to 11 strokes of the cane.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Anuar Kintan’s appeal against his conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court on a charge of making pornography, and upheld the prosecution’s appeal against his acquittal on a sexual assault charge.

PUTRAJAYA:

The Court of Appeal today sentenced a headmaster to 20 years’ jail and 11 strokes of the cane for pornography and committing physical sexual assault on a Year 6 pupil five years ago.

A three-member panel, chaired by Justice Noorin Badaruddin, sitting with Justices Radzi Abdul Hamid and Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, dismissed Anuar Kintan’s appeal against his conviction and sentence of nine years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane imposed by the High Court on the charge of producing pornography.

The panel also allowed the prosecution’s appeal to overturn the lower court’s decision to acquit and discharge Anuar on the second charge of physical sexual assault against the victim, who was 12 at the time.

The court convicted him of the charge, and sentenced him to 11 years’ jail and three strokes of the cane.

Noorin, who delivered the unanimous decision, ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.

She also issued a warrant of committal for Anuar, 59, to begin his sentence today.

The accused had previously obtained a stay of execution of the sentence and was released on bail of RM14,000 with one surety pending disposal of his appeal.

The court, meanwhile, upheld the lower court’s decision to acquit and discharge Anuar on two further charges, involving physical sexual assault on the girl, and uttering words intended to be heard by the victim for sexual purposes.

Noorin said the victim had given direct testimony identifying the accused as the person who took the photographs, and that her testimony had been considered by the sessions court judge who accepted it.

She said the existence of the photographs was not an isolated circumstance, but was supported by forensic examination that identified the images in Anuar’s mobile phone.

She said the court disagreed that the alibi evidence presented by Anuar had raised reasonable doubt.

The defence had put forward an alibi in which Anuar’s wife testified that he was at home with her, and not at the school, when the incident occurred.

Noorin said the testimony of the victim’s friend provided material support for the prosecution’s case regarding the accused’s presence at the school on April 3, 2021, and his movements with the victim.

Therefore, the alibi evidence presented by the accused did not raise reasonable doubt.

On April 19, 2024, the sessions court found Anuar guilty of the first offence of making pornography by taking photos of the victim and sentenced him to three years in jail and two strokes of the cane.

The court also sentenced him to an additional one year’s imprisonment and two strokes of the cane under Section 16 (1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

The section provides for punishment if an offender commits a sexual crime while holding a position of trust over a child. The sentences were to run consecutively.

The court, however, acquitted him on the second, third and fourth charges.

On Aug 15 last year, the High Court increased the prison sentence on the first charge to nine years’ and eight strokes of the cane and upheld his acquittal on the other three charges.

The offences were committed at a school in Perak in the middle of March 2021 and on April 3, 2021.

Anuar was represented by lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi, while deputy public prosecutors Azlina Mahmod and P Sarulatha appeared for the prosecution. - FMT