Feb 16, 2011
Jailed 14 months for sex with a 14-year-old girl
By Khushwant Singh
Helmy Mahamod, 28, was sentenced to 14 months in jail for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. -- ST PHOTO: MALCOLM MCLEOD
HELMY Mahamod did not learn his lesson the first time around and on Feb 1, the 28-year-old repeat offender was sentenced to 14 months in jail for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Eight years ago, he had committed a similar offence with a different minor and was jailed four months. On both occasions, he got to know the victims through Internet chatrooms and the prosecutor had asked for a deterrent sentence as Helmy had not changed a bit. The unemployed man is appealing against the sentence.
He admitted to getting to know the second victim, a secondary school student, in December 2006. They would go on outings with other chatroom members and sometime in March or April 2007, the couple had gone to her flat first. She was a virgin and he had sex with her without using a condom. He also recorded it with a digital camera.
In his defence, Helmy claimed that he was suffering from a psychiatric problem which was undetected when he committed the offence but a report from the Institute of Mental Health stated that he had no mental or sexual disorder at that time.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ruth Wong had asked the court to jail Helmy for 15 months as he had twice preyed on victims through chatrooms. The use of a digital camera to record the sexual act was also very serious as it allowed for repeated viewings and could cause great embarrassment to the victim if the footage fell into the wrong hands, she said.
Helmy, who pleaded guilty on the sixth day of the trial, could have been jailed up to five years and fined up to $10,000.
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