Man who admits to sexually abusing 2 underaged girls seeks probation
SINGAPORE — A 19-year-old man who had sex with a 13-year-old girl a month after sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl from a shelter admitted to his offences on Tuesday (5 May).
The unemployed teenager, who cannot be named to protect the girls, will be remanded for assessment to see if he is suitable for probation or reformative training.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration of a minor, two counts of harassing debtors under the instructions of an unlicensed moneylender, and one count of stealing two cartons of beer from an NTUC Fairprice supermarket at Havelock Road. Another 10 charges involving similar offences will be taken into consideration. These include molesting a woman in April last year.
He got into a relationship with the first girl, then 15, on August 2018, when he was 17. The girl was a resident of a youth shelter.
Throughout their relationship, the girl rejected the man’s sexual advances as she knew she should not be having sex at her age. However, the man attempted to be physically intimate with her again in mid-November 2018, while the couple were at his flat.
When the girl rejected his advances again, the man became frustrated and asked her why she was unwilling when other girls were not. The pair got into an argument but later calmed down and lay on a bed.
While the girl thought about the quarrel, the teen went on top of the girl and removed her shorts and undergarments. The girl gave in as she believed she loved him. The two then had sex.
The pair regularly engaged in sex until March last year, when a staff from the girl’s shelter noticed that she appeared depressed. The girl confessed about her relationship with the man and the matter was referred to the police.
A month later, the man had sex with another girl, then 13. The two were formerly in a relationship.
On 25 April last year, the girl went to the man’s house after being discharged from the hospital for chest and stomach discomfort. The man’s cousin and other friends were present when he gave the girl a can of beer. She drank half the can and felt tipsy.
At about 3am the next day, when the others had left, the man and the girl began to kiss and became intimate.
After the sexual intercourse, the girl experienced pain while urinating and was brought to a shelter by her father. She was eventually conveyed to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) where the girl informed a doctor of the sexual incident. KKH staff reported the case to the police on 1 May last year.
Separately, the man had also stolen two cartons of Carlsberg beer worth $95.80 from the NTUC Fairprice supermarket at Havelock Road. The supermarket’s management discovered the offence and nabbed him after he returned to the premises on 12 February to buy cigarettes.
The man was charged on 19 June and released on bail, when he went on to commit offences for an unlicensed moneylender.
In need of money, he approached a friend who offered the man a job to harass individuals on behalf of a loanshark. On 23 July last year, the man vandalised the wall next to a unit at Geylang Bahru and locked the gate with a bicycle lock. He then splashed the gate with yellow paint.
He repeated the act on a second unit at Tampines Street 11 that evening.
The man is represented by lawyer Gino Hardial Singh, who rejected the application for a reformative training suitability report given his client’s age and lack of criminal history, and sought for a probation report.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Victoria Ting, however, said the man had committed “quite a large number of offences over prolonged period of time” and some of these were serious in nature.
Ruling for both probation and reformative reports to be produced, District Judge Eddy Tham said that he would still “keep an open mind” despite the number of egregious offences, especially those committed while on bail.
The man will return to court on 2 June.
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