Jail for NTU student who climbed water pipes to have sex with 15-year-old girl in her bedroom

SINGAPORE — They got to know each other in their cell group in church, before beginning to date when he was 24 years old and she was 15.

He was a Nanyang Technological University (NTU) student at the time.

The couple had sex on a few occasions, at his hostel room and in her house, continuing to do so even after her parents found out about their relationship and made them break up.

On Monday (Feb 17), the man, who is now 26 years old, was sentenced to one-and-a-half years’ jail in a district court.

His victim, now aged 17, cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect her identity.

After he pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual penetration of a minor, his lawyer Sunil Sudheesan asked for a report to be called to assess his suitability for probation. The prosecution, on the other hand, sought at least 20 months’ jail.

Mr Sudheesan called it a case of “star-crossed lovers”, saying that his client was shocked when the girl first kissed him.

“They realised that they both harboured feelings for each other. The accused discussed with the victim if she knew and understood what they were going to do… Unfortunately, young people in love can do regrettable things,” the lawyer added.

The girl was also “mature and consenting” and she was not manipulated by the man, Mr Sudheesan said.

In asking for the probation suitability report, the lawyer told District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt that it did not mean he should give probation if it was recommended.

“The report can give independent insight into the nature of their relationship… this is a case of making love instead of having sex,” he added.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Grace Teo responded that the victim, who was aged below 16 at the time, would have “been incapable of giving positive consent”.

The judge told Mr Sudheesan that he would not call for a probation report given the accused’s age, the number of charges he faced, the seriousness of his offences and the victim’s age.

Referring to the case of another NTU student, who was sentenced to two years’ jail last week for having sex with a 13-year-old girl, the judge noted: “The facts are almost exactly the same.”

HAD SEX IN HIS HOSTEL ROOM

The court heard that the girl and the man became acquainted in 2014, then began dating in October 2017.

They had sex in his NTU hostel room sometime that month, when his roommate was not around. She had “indicated that she consented to sexual intercourse”, and it was her first time having sex, DPP Teo told the court.

When her parents discovered they were dating, they broke up in December 2017. But they stayed in contact, and he gave her a phone to communicate with him behind her parents’ back.

On Jan 21, 2018, he got into her bedroom by climbing the water pipes of the shophouse where she lived. Her bedroom was on the second storey.

They came up with this modus operandi earlier that month so her parents would not know what they were doing.

They had sex there and he did not use a condom.