Teen actress’s father can be prosecuted, lawyer says
SHAH ALAM – The father of a teen actress could be charged for his actions of allegedly sexually assaulting the teen in an incident believed to have happened 10 years ago.
Lawyer Ng Xin Ru said there was no time limit set for the prosecution of any criminal case.
He said that based on the revelation made by the teen actress, her father could be investigated and charged with three offences under the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017.
This involved the offence under Section 14(a) regarding the provision of touching any part of a child’s body for sexual purposes and Section 15(c) for performing an activity that was sexual in nature in front of a child.
He said Section 15(e) of the act also allocated the offence which caused a child to observe any images whether visually or through audio regarding any person engaging in activities with a sexual nature.
“Charges for the case could be done (for the victim’s father).
“The victim could make a police report and if the authorities open an investigation paper and found there was an offence done, the district attorney could make an accusation towards the father,” he said when contacted by Sinar Harian on Monday.
Recently, the teen actress, through an interview on a Youtube account, revealed her past where she was allegedly assaulted by her biological father.
The actress claimed that while she was five, her father would not only molest her but would also touch himself inappropriately in front of her and made her watch pornographic videos together.
Ng said the evidence for the case usually would depend on the victim’s statement.
“Even though she was a child, she could still give her statement and be considered a competent witness.
“The court could convict the accused (her father) based on the child’s statement without needing any supporting statements from other parties.
“This is based on the laws that were allocated under Section 18 of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017,” he explained.
For offences involving the presence of individuals other than the child, Ng said the statement could be taken from those parties.
“For the masturbation offence, the victim’s mother could give a statement considering the mother was an eye witness who was at the scene during the offence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the father of the actress had made a report at the Bandar Baharu Police Station in Kedah on Sunday.
As of now, the police said there were no reports lodged on the matter in Kuala Lumpur.
