SINGAPORE — When he was 13, he began molesting his nine-year-old cousin after seeing her come out of the shower at her Housing and Development Board flat.
Over the next three years, he repeatedly sodomised her and forced her to perform oral sex on him and told her to keep quiet about what he had done to her.
His offences only came to light when she thought she was pregnant and confided in her close friends about the abuse. They told their teachers who took the girl to lodge a police report.
The perpetrator, who is now aged 20, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Aug 12) to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor and molestation.
Fourteen other similar charges will be considered for sentencing next week.
He cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect the identity of the girl, who is now aged 15. He is currently waiting to enlist in National Service and has been offered a place in Nanyang Technological University.
District Judge Ronald Gwee called for a report to assess if he is suitable for reformative training, a regimented rehabilitation programme for offenders under 21 who commit relatively serious crimes.
Offenders are given a minimum period that is subject to how they respond to the rehabilitation. Reformative training is a harsher punishment than probation, which allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.
The judge rejected suggestions from the man’s lawyer, Mr Choo Si Sen, to call for a probation report, saying they were “very serious offences” and that the facts “patently show the adverse effects” of the youth's actions.
Mr Choo had argued that his client showed good prospects in life and chances of rehabilitation.
The court heard that the girl regarded him as her older brother.*
From a young age, they played together and he occasionally helped her with her schoolwork.
She was particularly close to his mother who would take her to school and back.
As her parents only returned home in the evenings, her aunt and grandmother took care of her after school.*
At one point, she stayed in their home while waiting for her parents’ new flat to be ready.
In 2014, the then-13-year-old teenager was visiting the girl’s flat when he saw her emerge from the shower naked.*
While he was not initially aroused, “the desire to see the victim naked again began to fester in his mind”, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Kee En told the court.
Several months later, he seized his chance when she stayed over at his flat and they were alone.
“He felt the urge to touch her and asked if he could do so, knowing she did not fully understand the import of his request. She nodded her head and he removed her clothing,” the prosecutor said.
Afterwards, he felt disgusted with himself but felt the consequences of his actions were “not as bad”, thinking she probably could not understand what had happened.
In December 2014, he began sodomising her.*
This usually happened during the school holidays.
Once, he told her it was a game, and got her to go into a crawling position before sexually abusing her.
In June 2016, he began forcing her to give him oral sex.
One day in August 2017, she felt pain in her abdomen and thought she was pregnant.*
NO MENTAL ILLNESS
She told the authorities that while her cousin had not threatened her, he told her not to tell anybody about what he had done. She felt uneasy about the sexual acts but did not understand the seriousness of the matter.
She also kept quiet as she did not want her family to break up. Their families were particularly close, DPP Chong said.
“She felt ‘sad’ at the thought of the accused being punished and was worried about how her aunt and grandmother would take the news,” he added.
When interviewed by the authorities, the youth said that he had continued his acts as she had always replied that she was okay afterwards.
An Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist, who found that he had no mental illness and could differentiate right from wrong, said that the offences were committed due to a lack of supervision.
He was raised by a single mother who had cancer from 2006 to 2011.
He attended nine counselling sessions and stopped in July 2018, the psychiatrist noted.
The girl and her mother moved out of the flat immediately after the police report was lodged, and he apologised to her father the next day.
The two cousins now only interact with each other through greetings at family gatherings when there is close parental supervision.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...ually-abused-nine-year-old-cousin-three-years
Over the next three years, he repeatedly sodomised her and forced her to perform oral sex on him and told her to keep quiet about what he had done to her.
His offences only came to light when she thought she was pregnant and confided in her close friends about the abuse. They told their teachers who took the girl to lodge a police report.
The perpetrator, who is now aged 20, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Aug 12) to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor and molestation.
Fourteen other similar charges will be considered for sentencing next week.
He cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect the identity of the girl, who is now aged 15. He is currently waiting to enlist in National Service and has been offered a place in Nanyang Technological University.
District Judge Ronald Gwee called for a report to assess if he is suitable for reformative training, a regimented rehabilitation programme for offenders under 21 who commit relatively serious crimes.
Offenders are given a minimum period that is subject to how they respond to the rehabilitation. Reformative training is a harsher punishment than probation, which allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.
The judge rejected suggestions from the man’s lawyer, Mr Choo Si Sen, to call for a probation report, saying they were “very serious offences” and that the facts “patently show the adverse effects” of the youth's actions.
Mr Choo had argued that his client showed good prospects in life and chances of rehabilitation.
The court heard that the girl regarded him as her older brother.*
From a young age, they played together and he occasionally helped her with her schoolwork.
She was particularly close to his mother who would take her to school and back.
As her parents only returned home in the evenings, her aunt and grandmother took care of her after school.*
At one point, she stayed in their home while waiting for her parents’ new flat to be ready.
In 2014, the then-13-year-old teenager was visiting the girl’s flat when he saw her emerge from the shower naked.*
While he was not initially aroused, “the desire to see the victim naked again began to fester in his mind”, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Kee En told the court.
Several months later, he seized his chance when she stayed over at his flat and they were alone.
“He felt the urge to touch her and asked if he could do so, knowing she did not fully understand the import of his request. She nodded her head and he removed her clothing,” the prosecutor said.
Afterwards, he felt disgusted with himself but felt the consequences of his actions were “not as bad”, thinking she probably could not understand what had happened.
In December 2014, he began sodomising her.*
This usually happened during the school holidays.
Once, he told her it was a game, and got her to go into a crawling position before sexually abusing her.
In June 2016, he began forcing her to give him oral sex.
One day in August 2017, she felt pain in her abdomen and thought she was pregnant.*
NO MENTAL ILLNESS
She told the authorities that while her cousin had not threatened her, he told her not to tell anybody about what he had done. She felt uneasy about the sexual acts but did not understand the seriousness of the matter.
She also kept quiet as she did not want her family to break up. Their families were particularly close, DPP Chong said.
“She felt ‘sad’ at the thought of the accused being punished and was worried about how her aunt and grandmother would take the news,” he added.
When interviewed by the authorities, the youth said that he had continued his acts as she had always replied that she was okay afterwards.
An Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist, who found that he had no mental illness and could differentiate right from wrong, said that the offences were committed due to a lack of supervision.
He was raised by a single mother who had cancer from 2006 to 2011.
He attended nine counselling sessions and stopped in July 2018, the psychiatrist noted.
The girl and her mother moved out of the flat immediately after the police report was lodged, and he apologised to her father the next day.
The two cousins now only interact with each other through greetings at family gatherings when there is close parental supervision.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...ually-abused-nine-year-old-cousin-three-years
