Man pleads guilty to underage sex offences with girls he met on Instagram

SINGAPORE — A teenager chatted up underage girls on Instagram before engaging in sex acts with them.

The offender, who is now 20, pleaded guilty on Thursday (Dec 16) to four charges of sexual penetration of a minor. Another 11 charges, including molestation and sexual exploitation of a child or young person, will be taken into consideration for sentencing.

The victims are protected by a court order and the accused cannot be named because he was under 18 at the time of some of the offences.

The court heard that the accused struck up a conversation with a 14-year-old girl on Instagram in early 2018, when he was 16.

They began "exchanging flirtatious messages on Instagram and Telegram", before agreeing to meet at the girl's house in April 2018.

The prosecution said that she snuck him into her bedroom and they watched a movie on her bed. The youth then began kissing the girl and touching her legs before having underage sex with her and persuading her to perform a sex act on him.

The accused knew that the victim was under 16, the prosecution added. They met only once and stopped texting shortly after.

The second victim, also 14 at the time, was approached by the offender in late 2017. He complimented her and began sending her messages on Instagram and WhatsApp.

It was only in August 2018 that the offender suggested meeting this victim.

The girl told him to take along condoms, saying she would not agree to sex without them. They watched a movie at Downtown East in Pasir Ris on Aug 7, 2018, before going to a staircase landing in the area for sex.

They met up again for sex at the offender's house in September 2018, when he was 17 and she was 14.

The third victim was approached by the offender in August 2019, and they entered into a "brief romantic relationship", the court heard.

Saying that he did not want his parents to know she was visiting, the accused flipped the security camera at the door away before sneaking the girl into his home.

He asked the 15-year-old girl to perform a sex act on him, before leaving the house with her. They met again that same month for a sex act in a mall toilet and broke up shortly after.

All three victims lodged police reports in June 2020, saying that they had engaged in underage sex, unprotected sex or oral sex with the offender.

DEFENCE SEEKS PROBATION

The prosecution asked for a report assessing the offender's suitability for reformative training. This is a harsher punishment than probation that detains younger offenders in a structured environment with an emphasis on rehabilitation.

The prosecution said that the sexual offences were committed against a total of eight victims, including the charges taken into consideration, and some of these charges were for non-consensual acts.

Defence lawyer Riko Isaac asked for a probation suitability report to be called as well.

He said that all the offences in the proceeded charges involved his client finding girls' profiles on Instagram, finding them attractive and messaging them.

"Eventually, the conversations turned sexual," he said. The first victim gave his client her house address herself and snuck him into her bedroom.

"We raise that not to victim-blame at all," Mr Isaac said. "But in this context, a 17-year-old boy would assess the situation differently from someone who is more mature."

He added that his client "is not a sexual predator who goes onto Instagram to look for girls to get involved with sexually" and that the court proceedings "have taken a toll on him".

The youth spent nine months in remand when he was first arrested and this has served as "a huge wake-up call for him", Mr Isaac said.

"Both his parents have retired to spend more time with him and to be able to supervise him in his day-to-day activities."

He also said that the youth "shouldn't be too harshly punished for his lack of judgement and immaturity at the time of the offences", that the young man has "a supportive background" and has engaged in "meaningful activities" such as volunteering in church.

The judge called for both probation and reformative training suitability reports, noting that the offences committed were serious, with a number of victims involved, but also that he was a young offender.

He adjourned sentencing to February. CNA

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