SINGAPORE: A drug abuser allowed a 14-year-old girl to smoke methamphetamine and had sex with her on three occasions.
Muhammad Danial Hadri Mohamad Hidayat, 24, was jailed for more than five years and nine months on Monday (Feb 3).
He pleaded guilty to four charges under the Misuse of Drugs Act, one charge of sexual penetration of a minor, and one charge under the Computer Misuse Act.
Five similar charges were considered in sentencing.
His sentence comprises jail terms for the sexual assault, taking methamphetamine, and unauthorised disclosure of a computer access code.
Danial, then 22, met the girl online in 2023. He had consensual sex with the minor on three occasions that year.
On Jan 30, 2024, Danial and the girl smoked methamphetamine together using improvised drug utensils. He did not charge her for smoking his stash of the drug.
He was arrested at a condominium in Tampines later that day. The girl was also arrested and the drug utensils – a plastic bottle and a glass pipe – were seized from her.
Urine samples from Danial and the girl tested positive for methamphetamine.
Danial was previously convicted of taking methamphetamine and sentenced to reformative training in 2019.
He relapsed back into smoking Ice in May 2023, and picked it up again from October 2023.
He admitted to letting the girl smoke methamphetamine on three occasions between November 2023 and January 2024.
He also admitted to smoking methamphetamine every day from Jan 22 to Jan 30, 2024 due to the stress of losing his job.
After Danial’s arrest, he was placed under supervision and required to take regular urine tests.
But while on bail, he failed to turn up for his test without a valid reason on six occasions in June and July 2024.
In July 2024, he relapsed again and smoked Ice due to the stress from his family situation.
Separately, Danial gave his SingPass credentials to his former neighbour, who used them to open two bank accounts in April 2023.
Danial did this knowing that the new bank accounts would likely be used to scam other people, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ho May Kim said.
A sum of S$11,812.32 flowed through a UOB bank account, of which S$1,760 was identified as scam proceeds.
Another S$45,508.95 flowed through a Standard Chartered Bank account. Only about S$595 remained in the account when it was frozen.
Danial committed this offence while on remission order, and was hence liable for an enhanced sentence.
The prosecution sought at least five years and seven-and-a-half months’ jail, and up to six years and two months’ jail before including the enhanced sentence.
Ms Ho argued that Danial “actively facilitated” the girl’s consumption of drugs by giving her a “safe space” where she was unlikely to be caught by police, and supplying her with Ice free of charge.
This was an escalation from his past convictions of drug consumption, the prosecutor said.
She highlighted the victim’s vulnerable age and the fact that the offence involved methamphetamine, a Class A drug, as aggravating factors.
She also said that Danial was a “serial sexual offender” given his 10 previous charges of sexual penetration of a minor.
The penalty for sexual penetration of a minor is up to 10 years in jail, a fine or both.
The punishment for permitting a young person to consume a controlled drug is a jail term of up to 10 years.
Danial faced at least three years’ imprisonment for consuming methamphetamine as a repeat drug offender.
He also faced up to four years in jail and a fine of up to S$10,000 (US$7,300) for failing to present himself for a urine test.
Unauthorised disclosure of a computer access code is punishable with up to three years in jail, a fine of up to S$10,000 or both.
