Image from The Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A then 13-year-old boy, who committed a sexual offence against a girl in early 2021, went on to target five more victims in separate instances until late 2022.
The six underage girls, whom he committed the offences against, were between 12 and 14 years old at the time.
On April 1, the youth, now 16, pleaded guilty to eight charges for offences that included molestation and statutory rape.
He cannot be named, as he is below 18 and protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.
Seventeen other charges will be considered during sentencing.
The offender met his first victim, then 13, on March 28, 2021, through a mutual friend, and they agreed to enter into a relationship.
The pair went to a staircase at the block of flats where the girl lived the next day and had sex.
The couple later got into an argument after she found out that he had posted a picture of them together on social media, even though she was not ready to make their relationship public.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Liew told the court: “This led to the accused breaking up with the first victim... As he was leaving, he wished the victim ‘good luck’ and stated that he would be looking for a new girlfriend.”
The offender met the second victim, who was then 12 years old, when they were hospitalised at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in July 2021.
He had problems with his legs at the time, while she had respiratory issues. He befriended the girl and they exchanged their social media details.
The second victim was watching a show on her mobile phone in hospital on July 9, 2021, when the offender went to her bed and kissed her left cheek without her consent.
She told a nurse about the incident the next day, but the offender had already been discharged by then.
He met his third victim, then 13, on Jan 16, 2022, through social media. They began chatting and agreed to meet at Lot One Shoppers’ Mall in Choa Chu Kang three days later.
After spending some time together on Jan 19, 2022, he asked her to be his girlfriend, and she agreed.
The offender then started touching the girl’s body in public without her consent, prompting her to break up with him that very day.
“The third victim was uncomfortable with the touches and she felt embarrassed as the incident occurred in public,” said the prosecutor.
The offender met his fourth victim, who was 14 at the time, near Marsiling in April 2022, while she was hanging out with her friends after school.
She became his girlfriend soon after and went to his home some time between April and May 2022. The offender then sexually penetrated her three times during the same visit.
He was in school in April 2022 when he met his fifth victim, then 13. Some time in June that year, the pair went to a staircase landing of a block of flats and had sex.
Four months later, the offender got to know the sixth victim through social media and she later agreed to be his girlfriend.
They met at Lot One Shoppers’ Mall about one to two weeks later and he asked the girl, who was then 13, if she wanted to have sex with him. She agreed and they later had sex at a staircase landing at the block of flats where she lived.
On April 1, the court called for reports to assess the offender’s suitability for both probation and reformative training.
Young offenders sent for reformative training are detained in a centre to observe a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
The accused is expected to be sentenced on May 27. - The Straits Times/ANN
