Youth who had sex with minor even after being charged faces reformative training
SINGAPORE — Reformative training and probation reports were called on Wednesday (9 June) for a 20-year-old man who was hauled to court twice to be charged for having sex with the same minor.
Muhammad Yusri Aljufri had been arrested for having sex with a 13-year-old girl from a special needs school, but went on to have sex with her again three months later.
He pleaded guilty to three charges of sexually penetrating a minor under 16, involving two female victims. Both cannot be named due to a gag order protecting their identities.
The first victim, then 14, got to know Yusri through Instagram when he was 19. They met on 17 November 2019 at a void deck in Punggol and proceeded to a staircase where they engaged in sexual activity. The girl told Yusri that she wanted his child.
When her menses was delayed, the girl told the mother that she might be pregnant. Her mother brought her to a polyclinic to check if she was pregnant, but the girl was not.
The polyclinic staff lodged a police report.
The second victim was 13 years old when she first knew Yusri through an online social media platform called Tellonym last March. The victim was a student at a special needs school then.
Shortly after they began chatting, the girl told Yusri that she wanted to be his girlfriend. Yusri began sending the girl messages of a sexual nature, and she sent him pictures of her bare breasts and genitals.
They met on 9 March last year at an MRT station before proceeding to a block along Henderson Road where they began engaging in sexual activity. They then took a Grab car to Yusri’s flat in Punggol where they had sex.
On 11 March last year, the second victim’s teacher noticed the love bites on the student's neck and informed her parents. A police report was lodged. Yusri was arrested and charged in court on 13 March last year. Some 1,000 obscene videos were found in his phone, while the second victim’s phone contained pictures of private parts.
Despite being charged, he again had sex with the 13-year-old victim on 19 June last year. He went to her home, where she was with a friend.
While at the block, Yusri and the girl went to a staircase where they had sex. Unbeknownst to the girl, Yusri recorded the act.
After the act, Yusri abandoned the girl as he considered her as “unimportant to him” and went to speak to her friend, Deputy Public Prosecutor Samyata Ravindran told the court. He then went home, deleting the footage he had taken of her while on the way.
On 24 June last year, the victim told her counsellor about the sex act and Yusri was arrested again. He was charged in court a second time on 26 June. Another 70 obscene videos were found in his phone.
DPP Samyata did not object to a reformative training report to be called for Yusri due to his age. If he is found suitable, Yusri would be detained in a reformative training centre where he would undergo structured programmes for young offenders. Reformative training is a more serious sentencing option for offenders below the age of 21 and results in a criminal record.
Speaking through an interpreter, Yusri asked to be sentenced to probation. He said that he would like to study and complete his National Service, adding that he had “other things to do outside”.
Addressing the court, he said he could not “guarantee” that he would change but would “try (his) best”.
District Judge May Mesenas said she would call for a probation report as well to get a more holistic view of Yusri’s circumstances. Yusri will return on 29 June.
For sexually penetrating a minor under 14, Yusri can be jailed up 20 years, and can be fined or caned. For sexually penetrating a minor under 16, he can be jailed up to 10 years, or fined, or both.
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