Nawawi Anuar, 28, was a hostel warden at a religious school in Perlis. (Photo: Bernama)

Nawawi Anuar was sentenced to between seven and 15 years on each count of the sexual crime charges and an additional one year for for possession of pornographic videos in his phone.

The court ordered for the sentences for 20 of the charges to run consecutively, while the sentences for six other charges would run concurrently.

On Wednesday, Malaysian media outlets reported that the Sessions Court had sentenced Nawawi to 133 years in jail.

However, a recount of the total number of years by the prosecution on Thursday confirmed that the 28-year-old was sentenced to 228 years’ imprisonment.

Nawawi was charged with committing the acts against five male students aged between nine and 15 in April, at a religious school in the state of Perlis.

His crimes came to light after a 15-year-old boy lodged a complaint against him on Apr 24.

The student claimed he had been sodomised and forced to perform sexual acts in the warden's room.

Nawawi was arrested on May 11 in Perak, several days after he fled the religious school.

National Legal Aid Foundation counsel Mohd Hapiz Rajali, who represented Nawawi, had appealed for a lighter sentence on the grounds that Nawawi was remorseful and had been affected by his own history as a sexual abuse victim.

Deputy public prosecutor Noshuhada Mohd Yatim had urged the court to impose a heavy sentence as the offences were serious and had caused trauma to the victims and their families./.

VNF/Bernama