Mohd Faizal Amir, 32, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him before Judge Intan Nurul Farena Zainal Abidin.

The man was charged with 10 counts of performing unnatural sex and 22 counts of committing physical sexual assault on the students, aged 14 to 16, at a secondary school warden’s house in Tapah between July 28 and Sept 28, 2020.

The accused was charged under Section 377C of the Penal Code for the charges involving unnatural sex and under Sections 14(a) and 14(d) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for sexual grooming, which provide for a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment with whipping, if convicted.

The judge allowed the accused bail of RM55,000 with one surety on all the charges with the additional condition that the accused refrain from harassing the victims and to report to the nearest police station once a month.

The court fixed Nov 15 for mention.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Cheah Shuh Yuan while the accused was represented by Muhammad Farid Wajdi Hanif.