A FULL-TIME national serviceman (NSF) yesterday avoided a jail sentence for having sex with three underage girls.
Muhammad Danial Shah Mustapha, 19, was fined $24,000 instead after the court heard that he is now "a changed person" following counselling sessions.
Danial - one of whose victims had to have an abortion - ignored a police warning and even had sex in a handicapped toilet, the court heard.
His offences started in 2009. The first girl, who was 14, met him through a friend. He met the other two - both 15 - in online chatrooms.
The youth had sex with them at his parents' flat in Pasir Ris and in rented rooms in Geylang and Little India.
He kept going despite receiving a police warning.
In October 2010, he was placed on probation for two years for working as a loan shark runner. It included a two-month stay in the Singapore Boys' Home in Boon Lay.
After being allowed out temporarily in January 2011, he took the opportunity to have sex with his underage girlfriend at a staircase landing near the home. He even did it in a handicapped toilet in Pasir Ris Park in November 2011.
Danial pleaded guilty to having sex with the three minors. During the hearing in February this year, the prosecution argued for a sentence of reformative training - which could have meant between 18 months and three years in detention. Danial could also have been jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $10,000 or both.
But yesterday, defence lawyer G. Dinagaran told the court that his client had changed after attending counselling sessions with a psychiatrist and had matured while doing national service.
District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said Danial had not been "a corrupting influence" on the girls and noted the small age gap between them.
Muhammad Danial Shah Mustapha, 19, was fined $24,000 instead after the court heard that he is now "a changed person" following counselling sessions.
Danial - one of whose victims had to have an abortion - ignored a police warning and even had sex in a handicapped toilet, the court heard.
His offences started in 2009. The first girl, who was 14, met him through a friend. He met the other two - both 15 - in online chatrooms.
The youth had sex with them at his parents' flat in Pasir Ris and in rented rooms in Geylang and Little India.
He kept going despite receiving a police warning.
In October 2010, he was placed on probation for two years for working as a loan shark runner. It included a two-month stay in the Singapore Boys' Home in Boon Lay.
After being allowed out temporarily in January 2011, he took the opportunity to have sex with his underage girlfriend at a staircase landing near the home. He even did it in a handicapped toilet in Pasir Ris Park in November 2011.
Danial pleaded guilty to having sex with the three minors. During the hearing in February this year, the prosecution argued for a sentence of reformative training - which could have meant between 18 months and three years in detention. Danial could also have been jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $10,000 or both.
But yesterday, defence lawyer G. Dinagaran told the court that his client had changed after attending counselling sessions with a psychiatrist and had matured while doing national service.
District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said Danial had not been "a corrupting influence" on the girls and noted the small age gap between them.
