Kuala Terengganu sessions court judge Zul Zakiqudin Zulkifli meted out the sentence after finding that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt on the charges, Berita Harian reported.

Zul ordered the 42-year-old to serve four years in prison for physically sexually assaulting the teen, as well as another year in jail and four strokes of the cane for committing the offence while in a relationship of trust with the victim as her stepfather.

The charges were framed under Sections 14(d) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, punishable by 20 years’ jail and caning, and Section 16(1) of the same law which provides for five years’ imprisonment and a minimum two strokes of the rotan, upon conviction.

The judge ordered for the sentences to run consecutively from today, and for the convict to be placed under police supervision for two years after his release from prison.

The warden was charged with committing the offence against the victim at a house in Taman Desa MBKT Permint Jaya, Chendering, at about 12.15am on July 19, 2023.