SINGAPORE: A 15-year-old boy who was found guilty in the Youth Court of sexual offences against six girls was given probation, but reoffended in a similar fashion against five girls.
He continued to have sex with more girls despite being charged with the new offences, including meeting one after his release from a week in remand.
It is unclear if any of the five girls are the same as the previous six victims, as none of them can be identified due to gag orders.
The offender is now 19 but he cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act as he was below 18 when he offended.
He was sentenced to jail for eight years and two months and will be given six strokes of the cane, according to a judgment made available on Thursday (Aug 28).
The offender will be appealing against his sentence.
THE CASE
According to the judgment, the offender was 15 in August 2021, when he was found guilty in the Youth Court of charges including sexual penetration of six young girls aged between 12 and 15.
He was sentenced to 24 months’ probation, with two weeks of detention.
However, while undergoing probation, he reoffended and continued to do so while criminal proceedings against him for the new offences were underway.
He was between 16 and 18 when he sought out girls on social media and invited them to his home for sex.
He met one of them, V1, on a social dating app and went for a meal in March 2023 before going to a staircase landing where they hugged and kissed.
He then took her to his home where they had unprotected sex with the 13-year-old girl’s consent, the judgment stated.
V1 blocked the offender on social media that same month as she wanted to forget about her encounter with him.
She later confided in a friend about what happened and was encouraged to tell her school. V1 later lodged a police report in September 2023.
In May 2023, two months after his encounter with V1, the offender met another 13-year-old girl on Instagram. She was identified only as V2 in the judgment.
They went to a mall in Serangoon before going to his bedroom where they engaged in sex acts.
Fearing she might be pregnant, V2 later confided in her grandfather and lodged a police report in June 2023.
PLEADED GUILTY, BUT KEPT REOFFENDING
The offender was charged in court over these new offences in August 2023.
In May 2024, he pleaded guilty to the charges involving V1 and V2. He was remanded for one week to assess his suitability for reformative training.
Despite this, in June 2024, when the offender was 17, he met another 13-year-old girl on Instagram, referred to as V4 in court papers. She later went to his home and engaged in a sex act with him.
From Jul 19 to Jul 24 last year, the offender was remanded for his earlier offences. When he was released, he suggested to V4 that they meet up and she agreed.
V4 had turned 14 by then. She went to his home at night sometime between Jul 26 and Jul 31 last year and they had unprotected sex. The court noted that the girl had consented to the acts “because she liked him”.
V4’s mother reported the incident to the police in August 2024.
The offender was remanded in October 2024. He pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual penetration of V1, V2 and V4.
Another eight charges were taken into consideration. These include offences against V3 and V5, who were aged between 13 and 15 at the time.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
Initially, the prosecution asked the court to call for a report assessing the offender’s suitability for reformative training.
However, after the offender continued to reoffend, the prosecution changed its position and sought imprisonment with caning.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Sruthi Boppana and Grace Teo argued that he had demonstrated a “complete lack of regard for the law”, persistently reoffending and committing a total of 12 sexual offences against five victims.
They asked for a jail term of between seven years and 14 months’ jail and eight years and 16 months, with nine strokes of the cane.
The offender was represented by Mr Daryl Lim from the Public Defender’s Office. Mr Lim asked for both pre-sentencing reports for probation and reformative training for his client, saying the age gap between the offender and the victims was “relatively small” and there was “factual consent” given by the victims.
There was no premeditation nor predatory behaviour in any of the offences and the offender had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, said Mr Lim.
After his client was assessed to be unsuitable for probation and continued to offend, Mr Lim asked for reformative training or a total jail term of four years and eight months. He later revised this to six years and two months.
District Judge Kessler Soh agreed with the prosecution that the sentencing principles of deterrence and retribution had eclipsed rehabilitation of the offender.
He said the offender had engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse with very young girls whom he befriended over social media.
The offence under Section 376A is meant to protect the bodily and sexual integrity of minors, and penetrative sexual offences in particular represent “a grave intrusion into the sexual integrity of minors”, said the judge, citing a High Court case.
“Sexual offences committed against young victims, especially those below 14 years of age, were inherently serious in nature – regardless of whether the victims consented to the sexual acts,” said Judge Soh.
He added that the offences caused “potentially serious harm to the very young and vulnerable victims” and said the sex offender was “hardened and recalcitrant”.
Judge Soh said it was clear that the offender “had neither been rehabilitated by his probation nor deterred by the pending court proceedings, which included time spent in remand”.
“As submitted by the prosecution, he demonstrated a complete disregard for the law and acted with impunity in continuing to seek out young victims through social media to satiate his sexual desires,” said the judge.
“His offences stopped only after his bail was revoked, and he was remanded with no bail from Oct 21, 2024.”
The penalties for sexual penetration of a minor aged below 14 are a jail term for up to 20 years and a fine or caning.
If the minor is 14 or 15, the offender can be jailed for up to 10 years, fined, or both.
