A MAN was today charged in the Sandakan Magistrate’s Court on four charges of trafficking three girls and a woman for sexual exploitation in the middle of this month.

Chu Nyuk Sheng, 32, nodded his understanding after the charge was read out before Magistrate Nur Faezah Jafry, but no plea was recorded as the case fell under the jurisdiction of the Sessions Court.

The man faces three charges of trafficking girls aged 15, 16 and 17 for sexual exploitation at a hotel in Jalan 3, Sandakan, at 10.45 pm on May 14, with two of them not having identity documents.

For the fourth charge, he is charged with committing the same act against a 30-year-old Buton foreign woman at a hotel in Bandar Leila here at 10.15 pm the same day.

All the charges were brought under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, which provides for a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of life and caning, if convicted.

The court did not allow the accused to be granted bail and set June 15 for the case to be mentioned again in the Sessions Court.

Prosecution was conducted by Prosecuting Officer Ong Teik Yi while the accused was not represented. – May 29, 2026