Teen gets reformative training for underage sex, causing hurt and drug abuse
[video=youtube;WEXony76uWQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEXony76uWQ[/video]
Shawn Quek Han Boon admited to having consensual sex with a girl under 16 years old.PHOTO: ST FILE
Published Jan 5, 2016, 4:57 pm SGT
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
SINGAPORE - A teenager who had sex with a 13-year-old girl several times and assaulted her was sentenced to reformative training on Tuesday (Jan 5).
Shawn Quek Han Boon, 17, who faced seven charges, admitted last November to one count each of having consensual sex with a girl under 16 years old; using plastic hangers to hit her and kicking her on her body; and taking the drug, Ice - the street name for methamphetamine.
A Community Court had called for probation and Reformative Training Centre (RTC) reports on the former Ang Mo Kio Institute of Technical Education student.
Probation was not recommended but he was found suitable for reformative training.
Quek, whose risk of offending was found to be "very high'', was still under 27 months' probation for causing hurt by dangerous means when he committed the latest offences last year.
The court heard that he communicated with the girl last year after adding her as a friend on Facebook.They entered into a relationship on April 21, and engaged in unprotected sex. She had told him that she was 14 years old.
Three days later, she went to his flat in Toa Payoh to stay overnight and they had sex.
Some time between May and June, the girl had a dispute with Quek who became angry and assaulted her, leaving her with bruises on her arms, legs and body.
Quek was arrested at his home on June 25 and found to have taken drugs.
District Judge Mathew Joseph said it was quite disturbing that Quek resorted to violence at a young age.
"Obviously, you have no respect for women,'' he said. Quek responded by saying "no''.
Asked by the judge why he did that, Quek replied: "I was angry. It wasn't right, but I was angry.''
Judge Joseph said he was glad that Quek realised that it was not right. He said the court had heard "too many cases of anger, and loss of temper''.
In this case, he said it was "quite deploring'' for Quek to have lost his temper and inflicted injury to the girl.
"You obviously have no shame. You used the girl and then inflicted violence on her,'' he said.
Quek admitted that he was "very wrong'' to have resorted to violence.
The judge said he hoped Quek had learnt from this lesson.
"It is clear you need to be be placed in an institution structured for you in particular so that you can learn to control your anger for your own good,'' he added.
The minimum period for RTC is 18 months, and the maximum, three years.
