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KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA: A former teacher at a private school here has been jailed for a total of 36 years and ordered to be caned four times after the Sessions Court here found him guilty on two counts of raping a 12-year-old student earlier this year.
Sessions Court judge Duncan Sikodol ordered Adrian Simon, 31, to be imprisoned 18 years for each of the two charges but allowed the jail term to run concurrently.
He also allowed a stay of the sentence pending an appeal against the ruling in the High Court.
Adrian was accused of raping the girl between February and March between 2.10pm and 3.30pm. He was also accused of raping the girl at about 10.25am on March 26.
The alleged offences took place at the storeroom of the school’s science laboratory.
In his ruling, Duncan said he found that the very credible and consistent evidence of the girl was enough to convict Adrian.
“Although I am aware of the danger of convicting the accused on uncorroborated evidence and having warned myself of the same, given the very credible and consistent evidence of the victim, I think it is safe to rely on her evidence alone as it outweighs the inherent risks,” said Duncan.
Adrian’s counsel Khairul V. Othman immediately asked the court for a lenient sentence as his client had been cooperative with the authorities and suffered much anguish since his arrest.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Luke Ressa Balang, in pressing for a deterrent sentence, said as a teacher, Adrian had the responsibility of caring for his students and he had breached this trust.
“He raped a young girl. Imagine the stress and humiliation her family had to endure,” he added.
