Teen gets probation for molesting 12-year-old sister, asking for sex act
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Teen gets probation for molesting 12-year-old sister, asking for sex act
Photo illustration of a child in distress. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
By Lydia Lam
29 Jan 2020 10:29AM (Updated: 29 Jan 2020 11:04AM)
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SINGAPORE: An 18-year-old boy was sentenced to 21 months' probation on Wednesday (Jan 29) for repeatedly
molesting his 12-year-old sister and asking her to masturbate him in return for K-pop merchandise.
He will also have to perform 150 hours of community service and attend a treatment programme.
The boy cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the girl's identity. She is now living with her grandmother, and arrangements have been made for the siblings to stay apart, the court heard.
The boy had pleaded guilty last year to two counts of outraging his sister's modesty and one charge of attempting to procure an indecent act with a child.
A fourth charge of using criminal force on his sister by hugging her from the back was taken into consideration for sentencing.
He had molested his sister over her shorts last January (2019) while she was alone with him in his room to ask about homework.
A month later, he argued with the girl over what to watch on television before picking her up, placing her on his bed and molesting her over her shirt.
In April, she walked in on her brother masturbating, and he followed her out to the living room where he repeatedly asked her to masturbate him, offering to buy her merchandise from Korean pop group BTS in return.
The girl rejected her brother and lodged a police report saying she had been molested.
The prosecutor presented the findings of three reports - a psychological report, a probation suitability report, and a reformative training suitability report - to the court on Wednesday.
The probation report recommended 21 months' probation, while the reformative training report found the boy suitable for reformative training, and the psychological report recommended, among other things, offence-specific treatment.
"We will not be objecting to probation in this case," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim. "We note that the accused is a first-time offender. The RTC report assesses him to have generally led a pro-social life."
"The psychological report assesses the accused's risk of sexually reoffending to be within a low range in the community, and highlights the accused's willingness to receive intervention, strong parental support and cooperation with supervison," said Mr Lim.
Defence lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan also urged the court to impose probation.
"I'm instructed that his mother is determined to do everything she can to ensure that the accused person is back on the straight and narrow," he said.
District Judge Seah Chi-Ling said he would agree to impose probation, noting that there was "strong capacity for reform" and "strong protective factors" listed in the various reports.
The prosecutor added that the victim had stopped living with the accused, and now lives with her grandmother. Her school counsellor said she had not been observed to display negative changes in mood or behaviour.
The boy's mother furnished a S$5,000 bond to ensure her son's good behaviour during probation.
Source: CNA/ll