SINGAPORE: After attending sexuality education classes in school in early 2020, a 14-year-old boy became curious about the matter and asked his younger sister if he could “touch” her.
The 13-year-old girl initially refused to let him do so but gave in when he pestered her. He asked her to perform a sexual act on him and she complied.
He was 16 years old when he made her perform a similar act on him in 2022.
The offender, now 19, had pleaded guilty in 2024 to two counts of sexually penetrating the underage victim.
He cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of his sister, who is now 17.
His sentencing was slated to take place on Jan 9, but the case has been adjourned to Feb 14.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi had urged the court to call for a report to assess the offender’s suitability for reformative training, stressing that probation was not a “realistic option” in this case.
Young offenders sent for reformative training are detained in a centre to observe a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
DPP Quek added: “The present offences involve serious sexual assaults... The accused severely abused the trust reposed in him as the victim’s older brother, committing reprehensible acts against the victim.
“The accused had received sexual education at school and was not so young that he would not be able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions.”
The offender first targeted his sister in their home between March 16 and 31, 2020.
He struck again in March 2022 after he consumed alcohol, as he was unhappy with his O-level results.
He saw the victim studying in the living room of their home and asked her if she wanted to have sexual intercourse with him.
He also asked her to perform a sexual act on him and she refused to do so at first. The girl relented when he again pestered her.
DPP Quek said: “She felt helpless and did not know how to tell the accused that they should not be performing sexual acts.”
The victim later told a friend that the offender had been harassing her.
She finally alerted the police on March 22, 2022, and her brother was charged in court in 2024.
The Straits Times reported in May 2024 that there were 190 sexual assault cases involving victims below 16 years old who were allegedly abused by family members and relatives from January to November 2022.
There were 247 of such cases in 2021, up from 186 cases in 2020 and 153 cases in 2019.
Separately, a 2021 study on child sexual abuse cases at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital emergency department showed that girls below the age of 13 were more frequently abused by a family member and abused in their own homes, compared with older girls.
The perpetrators were predominantly men, at 96.6 per cent, while 94.8 per cent of the victims were girls. – The Straits Times/ANN
