A 31-year-old man in Malaysia faced a total of 15 charges in three sessions at Johor Bahru courts on Aug. 8 following his alleged involvement in the kidnapping, wrongful confinement and sexual abuse of a six-year-old girl on Jul. 20.

According to Malaysia English-language news agency Bernama, Leang Win Son, who is unemployed, had his charges read to him in Mandarin and pleaded not guilty afterwards.

He has also been charged with allegedly possessing and collecting child pornography from July 2024.

Alleged abduction and wrongful confinement

Leang was handed two charges in the first session at the Johor Bahru Sessions Court on Aug. 8, reported Bernama.

He was charged by Judge Rasidah Roslee for abducting the girl from her legal guardian or her mother at Eco Galleria, Taman Botani in Iskandar Puteri.

The incident occurred at 8:30pm on Jul. 20.

If found guilty, he may be sentenced to jail for up to seven years and a fine.

He was also charged in the same session with wrongful confinement of the girl.

Leang had allegedly illegally held her captive in a hotel room in the Batang Kali town of Selangor at around 4:45am on Jul. 23.

If found guilty, he may be sentenced to jail for up to two years.

Alleged possession of pornography and child sexual abuse material

According to Malaysia English-language newspaper New Straits Times (NST), Leang was also handed six charges in the second court session before Judge Siti Noraida Sulaiman.

Four charges included the alleged possession of 5,317 child sexual abuse images and videos found on two secure digital (SD) cards, one hard drive and a mobile phone at a residence in Kulai on Jul. 24.

If found guilty, Leang may face up to 15 years' jail and caning.

He was also charged with another two counts of alleged possession of 30 images of child sexual abuse, found on a mobile phone in a Batang Kali hotel room on Jul. 23.

If found guilty of the offence, he may be sentenced to up to five years' jail or fined up to RM10,000 (S$2960), or both.

On top of that, he was also charged with non-physical sexual abuse after he allegedly forced the girl to expose her body for his viewing at the hotel between 12:30pm on Jul. 22 and 4:45am on Jul. 23.

If found guilty, he may face up to 10 years' jail or fined up to RM20,000 (S$5,923), or both.

According to Bernama, Leang was given seven charges of allegedly owning pornographic material found in his Kulai residence on Jul. 24, in a separate session at the Kulai Magistrate's Court.

If found guilty, he may face up to three years' jail or a fine, or both.

Pleaded not guilty

Leang has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Johor State Prosecutor Abdul Ghafar Abdul Latif told the Johor Bahru Sessions Court that his charges are non-bailable.

However, he suggested a bail sum of RM160,000 (S$47,390) for the first eight charges if bail were to be considered.

Leang's lawyer had requested for a lower bail as he is currently unemployed and relying on his 58-year-old mother, who is a single parent with no regular income.

A RM50,000 (S$14,800) bail was granted as long as he does not contact prosecution witnesses, reports monthly to the nearest police and surrenders his passports.

A document submission hearing for the case has been scheduled on Sep. 12.

Top photos via China Press & Sin Chew Daily