Man gets 8 years’ jail, caning for sexually assaulting teen at pool complex

SINGAPORE — A former crane operator, who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy at Toa Payoh Swimming Complex in 2016, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment and four strokes of the cane by the High Court on Thursday (June 7).

Kabir Mohd Alamgir, 45, was convicted of one count of sexual assault by penetration on Tuesday, while another charge of outrage of modesty was taken into consideration during sentencing.

The court heard that on the afternoon of Oct 9, 2016, the Bangladeshi national had specifically targeted the boy, by waiting for him to enter the shower after swimming lesson, before barging into the shower cubicle and performing oral sex on him.

The prosecution said closed-circuit television footage showed Kabir entering the complex at about 5.22pm. He loitered near the wash basin located outside the men’s toilet, repeatedly rinsing his mouth and cleaning it with his fingers, while looking in the direction of the pool where the boy was having his lesson.

The sexual assault lasted for two to three minutes, and stopped only when his victim said his father was coming to fetch him.

The teenager, who is now 15 cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect his identity, told his father that he had been sexually assaulted by a “crazy man”. They lodged a police report the same evening, and Kabir was arrested the following night.

Kabir, who had been working in Singapore for 19 years before the offence, had paid attention to the victim as he found him to have a good physique.

The boy, who had been taking swimming lessons at the swimming complex since his primary school days, usually had his lessons on Sunday between 4.30pm and 5.30pm.

Kabir first struck up a conversation with the boy, asking him for his name and school, sometime in February or March 2016.

Noting that these conversations usually took place at a bench in the men’s toilet, where the boy was changing into his clothes after his shower, the prosecution said the victim had replied out of politeness.

But the attack left him so traumatised that he ceased going to the swimming complex, and also stopped swimming for a long time.

Calling for eight years’ imprisonment with four strokes of the cane, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail Wong pointed out that Kabir had taken advantage of the boy’s “polite and trusting nature”.

“Through these ‘innocent’ conversations, he learnt the young boy’s movement pattern and what time he would be at the complex, his name and school,” said Ms Wong. “Unfortunately, the age-old caution to children not to speak to strangers rings true here.”

She also noted that Kabir had “tested” the boy’s reaction towards sex by asking why he was not circumcised.

Kabir had seen the teenager’s private parts prior to committing the offence as the boy had a habit of leaving his clothes on the bench, and emerge from the cubicle naked after showering.

“When the young boy did not react in a particularly outraged manner, the accused must have believed that he could exploit the young boy further,” Ms Wong added.