Man claims trial to kidnapping, illegal confinement, and sexual abuse of Johor girl, 6

JOHOR BAHRU: An unemployed man has claimed trial to charges of kidnapping, illegal confinement, and sexual abuse of a six-year-old girl who had gone missing in Johor Bahru last month.

These included forcing the child to expose her body for his viewing in a hotel room in Selangor - located more than 350km away from Johor Bahru - where the girl was found along with him three days later.

Leang Win Son, 31, was also charged with possession of inappropriate items such as anime-themed body pillows depicting naked young girls, as well as fake female genitalia sex toys.

He reportedly received 15 charges over these offences in three separate hearings held at Johor Bahru Court Complex and the Kulai Magistrates' Court on Thursday (Aug 8).

Leang arrived at the Johor court complex at around 8am, dressed in a black T-shirt and blue denim shorts and escorted by police personnel in handcuffs, where he faced two charges relating to abduction and wrongful confinement.

However, he pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him in Mandarin in front of Sessions Judge Rasidah Ruslee.

According to the charge sheet, the man allegedly abducted the child from the girl’s mother at Johor’s Eko Galleria mall at around 8.30pm on Jul 20.

The girl was found on Jul 23 in neighbouring state Selangor, three days after going missing.

Leang was charged under Section 363 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum seven years imprisonment and a fine upon conviction.

He was also charged with wrongfully confining the child inside a hotel room in Batang Kali, Selangor at around 4.45am on Jul 23.

Judge Rasidah then set bail at RM20,000 (US$4,480) 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.

In another session at the same Johor Bahru Court Complex, Leang received six other charges.

Four of them involved the possession of 5,317 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse, which were found on two secure digital (SD) cards, one hard drive and a mobile phone at a residence in Jalan Bunga Raya 2, Taman Sri Kulai, Kulai, at 4pm on Jul 24.

The charges under Section 8(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, provides a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and caning, if convicted.

Leang was also charged with possessing child pornography - 30 images of child sexual abuse found on a mobile phone in a hotel room at Jalan Mahagoni 9, Batang Kali, at 4.45am on Jul 23.

This is under Section 10 of the same act and carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison or a fine up to RM10,000, or both.

He was also charged with non-physical sexual abuse under Section 15(a)(ii) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for forcing the child to expose her body for his viewing in the hotel room between 12.30pm on Jul 22 and 4.45am on Jul 23.

The case is scheduled for document submission hearing on Sep 12. 

Leang was later transferred to the Kulai court to face a further seven charges: Four relating to possession of obscene material in the form of bolsters showing young anime girls naked and wearing shorts, and three charges of sex toy possession.

He also pleaded not guilty to all charges at the Kulai court.

WHAT HAPPENED

According to local police reports, the girl went missing at around 8.30pm on Jul 20 after separating from her family during a Bon Odori event in Eco Galleria, Iskandar Puteri.

In a Facebook post a few days later, Johor’s Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi appealed to the public to help find her whereabouts.

Photos of the girl, allegedly taken at the event, made the rounds on social media, according to local publications.

Reported sightings of the missing child also circulated online, including one claiming she had been seen at the Johor Bahru Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex, according to The Star.

On Jul 23, police confirmed they had arrested five people - three men and two women - in total to assist with investigations relating to the case.

They included Leang, who was arrested around 4.45 am on Jul 23 at a budget hotel near Batang Kali, Selangor, where he was found with the young girl.

The suspects were reportedly apprehended for kidnapping under section 365 of the Penal Code as well as section 14 (A) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which pertains to touching a child for sexual purposes.

Johor police chief M Kumar said that the five suspects were Malaysian citizens and not related to the victim.

Four of the suspects were released on bail. Leang had his remand extended until Aug 4 to assist in investigations before being released on police bail.

On Sunday, he was rearrested by police following the discovery of various sex toys, adult pornography and child pornographic materials at his residence near Kulai.

The girl’s mother and other family members were reportedly seen at the Johor Bahru Court Complex to hear the proceedings.

The mother was earlier quoted as saying in a Malaysian media report that her daughter was seeing a child psychologist to deal with emotional stress.

The girl's name, as well as that of her mother, have been reported by several media outlets but CNA is withholding the details to protect their identity in view of the alleged sexual abuse against her.

According to a report by The Sun in February, an average of two children in Malaysia went missing every day in the country between 2021 and 2023.

Most were located or returned home on their own, the report said.

And of the 779 reported cases of missing children last year, the police managed to find 709 of them, according to Bukit Aman Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division chief assistant director ACP Siti Kamsiah Hassan.

Additional reporting by Aqil Haziq Mahmud and Zamzahuri Abas.