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Jail and caning for 'good role model' who molested boy

Young boy bending down and covering his head with his hands
Boy covering his head. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — A boy’s parents consented for their teenage son to stay overnight with a man, thinking that the man would be a good role model for him.

However, the man ended up molesting their son twice while they were sharing a bed.

Amiruddin Zuraimy, 25, was jailed for two years and given five strokes of the cane on Wednesday (28 October) for molesting the 13-year-old boy in March this year. He pleaded guilty to one out of two charges of molesting a victim under the age of 14, while the other charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.

He was fined $2,500 for a separate offence for criminal breach of trust for misappropriating Adidas products while working as a deliveryman.

Amiruddin met the victim in early March through a mutual friend. After a few days, Amiruddin asked the victim to go on an overnight fishing trip with him.

As the boy was not usually allowed to stay overnight, Amiruddin spoke to the boy’s father about the matter. During the conversation, the boy’s father said he was concerned about his son’s disciplinary issues, but Amiruddin assured the father that he would guide and advise the boy. The father then gave permission for his son to go fishing with Amiruddin.

The fishing trip passed on 16 March without incident. Three days later, Amiruddin asked the boy to stay over at his flat and texted the boy’s mother for permission. Amiruddin told the mother that he would need the boy’s help to set up decorations for a wedding event the next day.

The boy was sharing a bed with Amiruddin that night when the man molested him.

“The victim, who did not consent to the act, was shocked, scared, and uncertain as to how he should have reacted at the time. Nonetheless, the victim kept silent and pretended to stay asleep on the bed,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenneth Kee.

The next morning, the boy assisted Amiruddin in setting up wedding decorations. Amiruddin then asked the boy’s mother again permission for the boy to stay over one more night.

“The victim’s mother agreed, thinking at the time that the accused was a good role model for the victim,” said DPP Kee.

The boy asked to sleep on the floor this time, on the pretext that it was too warm in the room. However, Amiruddin said that he would increase the fan speed and the boy agreed to share a bed, thinking that he had no choice.

After midnight on 21 March, Amiruddin reached his hand under the boy’s shorts to touch the boy’s genitals. The boy pretended to feel asleep as he was afraid. He pretended to wake up a short while later and went to clean himself up.

Afraid of being molested again, the boy insisted on sleeping on the bedroom floor for the rest of the night before returning home.

After thinking about what had happened to him over the last two days, the boy became angry and decided to confront Amiruddin. He met Amiruddin at a coffeeshop with two friends and scolded the man, who apologised for his actions. Amiruddin asked the boy to lie to his parents about the incident.

The boy told his parents about Amiruddin’s actions. His father brought him to lodge a police report on 22 March.

Separately, Amiruddin was employed by Pickupp as a deliveryman from 12 November 2019 to 6 March 2020. During his employment, he would help himself to some of the items he was supposed to deliver.

While tasked to send shipments of items to the Adidas warehouse, Amiruddin instead brought some items home. Adidas later highlighted the discrepancies in their orders. After an internal review, Pickupp conducted a spot check on the items that Amiruddin delivered to Adidas on 6 March and discovered a missing pair of shoes that were not delivered. Amiruddin denied the offence but the shoes were found when his van was checked.

In total, Amiruddin had embezzled six pairs of footwear, three jackets and a bag from Adidas, with a total value of $1,360. He failed to return any of the items he had stolen by 8 March despite being told to do so.

On 17 June, Amiruddin’s residence was raided by the police and a pair of Adidas shoes, a pair of slippers and the bag were found.

Amiruddin claimed that he had thrown the other items as they were either spoilt or worn out. He restituted the full amount to Adidas later on.

In mitigation Amiruddin, who was unrepresented, said, “I would like to apologise over my mistake I have done. If possible I would like to be given another chance and if a fine were to be given or any other sentence I will follow through.”

“I would like a chance to take care of my aged parents and I promise not to reoffend and I will focus on my current job,” he said through a Malay interpreter.

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