School principal claims trial to child grooming

MARANG: A secondary school principal pleaded not guilty in the magistrates’ court here today to two charges of child grooming by sexually communicating with a female student.

Tajudin Mokhtar, 59, was charged with sexually communicating with a 16-year-old student in his office at 8.30am on July 2.

The father of four was also charged with non-physical sexual assault for showing the girl explicit pictures on his mobile phone at the same location and time.

The charges were brought under Section 11(1)(a) and Section 15(e) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, respectively.

Magistrate Zur Azureen Zainalkefli granted him bail of RM10,000 with two sureties for both charges. She ordered him not to intimidate the victim and to report to a nearby police station every month.

She also set Jan 14 for mention.

Deputy public prosecutor Maisarah Abd Razak prosecuted, while lawyer Abdul Haiyyi Salim represented the accused.