A caretaker at a welfare home who admitted to committing six counts of physical and non-physical sexual assault, as well as unnatural sex offences involving two boys aged eight and 10, was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment and five strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here on Thursday.
Retna Velu, 25, maintained his guilty plea after all charges were read out again in Tamil before Judge Norshila Kamaruddin.
The judge ordered the accused to serve 11 years in prison for each offence, with all sentences running concurrently from the date of his arrest on April 3.
“The court imposes one stroke of the cane for each of the first to fifth charges, while no whipping is imposed for the offence under Section 15(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017,” she said.
The court also ordered the accused to undergo counselling throughout his imprisonment and be placed under police supervision for two years upon release.
According to three of the charges, the accused committed carnal intercourse against the order of nature involving two boys aged eight years seven months and 10 years five months at a childcare centre in Batu Caves in February and March this year.
The offences were framed under Section 377C of the Penal Code, which carries a jail sentence of between five and 20 years, and whipping upon conviction.
For two other charges, he was accused of committing physical sexual assault against the same victims at the same location in March under Sections 14(a) and 14(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
The offences carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and whipping if convicted.
He also faced one charge of non-physical sexual assault involving the 10-year-old victim under Section 15(a)(i) of the same Act, which provides a maximum jail term of 10 years, a fine of up to RM20,000, or both.
The accused pleaded guilty to all six charges during proceedings on April 9, with the court later fixing Thursday for the presentation of case facts and sentencing.
Before sentencing, the mother of the eight-year-old victim told the court through a victim impact statement that her son had become withdrawn, fearful of meeting new people, and had shown a decline in academic performance following the incident.
The aunt of the 10-year-old victim said the child had become emotionally unstable and was especially afraid of unfamiliar men.
The accused, who was unrepresented, appealed for a lighter sentence.
However, deputy public prosecutor Nadiah Malek Fauzie urged the court to impose separate jail terms for each offence.
The proceedings were also attended by watching counsel representing the complainants and Pertubuhan Kebangkitan Tiga Tangan Selangor, namely S Kirthen and S Premila.
Apart from the current case, Retna Velu is also facing nine other similar charges involving several other victims.
Judge Ho Kwong Chin has fixed June 4 for case facts and sentencing after the accused pleaded guilty to all the additional charges.
