SINGAPORE: A 26-year-old bus driver who was introduced to a 13-year-old girl on his route later entered into a relationship with her.
The girl later lodged a police report saying the man had engaged in sex with her multiple times.
The man, now 30, was sentenced to eight years’ jail and six strokes of the cane on Friday (Jul 25).
He pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape, with another six charges taken into consideration.
All parties cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the victim’s identity.
The court heard that the man was a bus driver with SMRT in 2021.
The victim took his bus to school every morning.
In November 2021, the girl joined an interest group on Instagram and was introduced to the offender.
They followed each other on Instagram and began chatting.
About a week into their daily chats, the offender asked the girl out on a date.
She agreed as she had developed feelings for him, the court heard. They began going out together.
On Dec 9, 2021, the offender rented a car and drove the girl to a multi-storey car park.
They had sex, and the offender drove the girl home.
During their relationship, the pair met almost every day after the bus driver’s shift. This went on until early 2022, when they broke up.
Throughout this time, the victim was 13 years old and the driver was twice her age.
Sometime between February 2022 and April 2022, the victim’s aunts noticed a change in her behaviour.
They spoke to her and she told them that the offender had had sex with her in a rented car.
The aunts wanted to lodge a police report, but the girl begged them not to.
It was only in around June 2022 that the girl called one of her aunts and asked to be taken to lodge a police report.
The victim’s mother was only informed about what had happened a day before the report was lodged.
Prosecutors sought eight to nine years’ jail and six strokes of the cane, noting that there were four other similar charges taken into consideration.
However, they noted that the offender pleaded guilty early, cooperated and was relatively young at the time of the offence.
For statutory rape, an offender can be jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
Editor’s note: The article has been amended to further protect the identity of the victim.
