20-year-old admits impregnating two underage girls, assaulting teen girlfriend

• A 20-year-old man admitted to four charges of sexual penetration of a minor and one charge of voluntarily causing hurt
• He cannot be named under the law as he committed some of the offences when he was under 18 years old
• All three of the girls he had sex with got pregnant
• The man is being assessed on whether he is suitable for probation or reformative training

SINGAPORE — A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday (July 13) to having underage sex with two girls aged 12 and 15, both of whom got pregnant.

He also impregnated an 18-year-old girl he was dating. After they had a dispute outside his flat, he slapped the teen and kicked her back.

The Singaporean man, who turns 21 next week, cannot be named as he committed some of the offences when he was under 18 years old. The Children and Young Persons Act bans the publication of identities of accused persons of that age.

His victims also cannot be named due to a court order to protect their identities.

The man admitted to four charges of sexual penetration of a minor under 16 and one charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

Another 17 similar charges, including criminal intimidation, will be taken into consideration for sentencing next month.

District Judge Kessler Soh called for reports to assess if he is suitable for probation or reformative training.

Probation allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences, while reformative training is a regimented rehabilitation programme for offenders under 21 who commit relatively serious crimes.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that the young man got to know the youngest girl through social media channel Instagram in January 2019, when he was 19.

She initiated contact with him and they later began chatting on WhatsApp. He asked her how old she was and she replied that she was 12 years old.

That same month, she went over to his house and they had sex in his bedroom. He did not use a condom.

They later left his place together to meet his friends, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Theong Li Han told the court.

The authorities soon began investigating him for underage sex, although court documents did not state how this came about.

The pair met again at a Housing and Development Board block near her home and had sex at a staircase landing. He did not use a condom again.

Ten weeks after this, the girl found out that she was pregnant.

She got an abortion in May 2019 and a paternity test showed that he was almost certainly the father.

He enlisted for National Service that same month but continued seeing the girl on weekends when he booked out from camp, visiting her at a rental flat where she was living with her mother.

In June 2019, when sleeping over there, he initiated sex and did not wear a condom again.

As for the other two victims, he got to know the 15-year-old girl through mutual friends in 2017 when he was 17. They dated from January to August that year.

They had sex about twice or thrice a month until they broke up. She found out that she was pregnant with his child in early 2018 and is presently raising the child.

The police received a report of underage pregnancy from the National University Hospital in March 2018.

In relation to the oldest girl, he dated her from August 2019 to September last year when she was aged 18.

In January last year, the couple fought outside his flat when he did not want her to leave. He then slapped her once on her cheek and kicked her once on her lower back out of anger.

She “felt pain” but did not seek medical attention, the court heard.

She discovered she was pregnant with his child in March last year and gave birth in July.