JOHOR BARU, Dec 20 — A 67-year-old school van attendant was today charged at the Sessions Court here with two counts of sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl three years ago.

Goh Heng Hong, 67, pled not guilty after the two charges were read to him by a court interpreter in Mandarin in front of judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Arifin Ismail.

According to the charge sheet, the unmarried Goh had attempted to produce child pornography inside a school van between March and July 2019 in the Johor Baru district.

The act is an offence under Section 7 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (Act 792) for using a child in a pornographic film, punishable with a maximum of 20 years in jail and five strokes of the cane upon conviction.

The second charge was for sexually assaulting the victim by touching her thighs with sexual intent inside a school van between May and June 2019.

The offence is under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, for physical sexual assault on a child and provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and caning upon conviction.

The accused was not represented.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Danial Munir prosecuted and asked the court not to grant Goh bail.

He argued that the accused is still working as a school van attendant and uses the same route as the victim.

He added that if the court chose to allow bail, then it should be set at RM35,000 for each charge.

Goh said he could only afford RM1,000.

The judge decided on bail at RM10,000 for both charges with one surety.

Justice Ahmad Kamal also set additional conditions for Goh, telling the latter to surrender his passport and report to the nearest police station every month until the case is over.

He also warned Goh not to have any contact with the victim or her family and advised him to seek out the Legal Aid Centre to be represented in court.

The next time the case will be raised in court is January 25, 2023.