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Probation for 20-year-old volunteer who molested boy in church toilet

SINGAPORE — The boy called him “gor gor”, or older brother in Cantonese, but he abused that trust by molesting the 10-year-old in a church toilet last year.

SINGAPORE — The boy called him “gor gor”, or older brother in Cantonese, but he abused that trust by molesting the 10-year-old in a church toilet last year.

On Monday (May 13), the man — now 20 years old and a full-time national serviceman — was sentenced to 18 months’ probation and ordered to get psychological treatment to address his sexual offending behaviour. He also has to perform 130 hours of community service.

He and the church cannot be identified to protect his victim’s identity.

The boy first became acquainted with the young man in January 2017 through the student-care centre of the church. The man had been a volunteer at the church since November 2016 and was in charge of teaching children from Primary 1 to 4.

The two developed a close relationship after chatting on social networking service Instagram and the boy regarded the man as an older sibling.

The court heard that the man asked the boy to call him “gor gor” and they would meet whenever the man volunteered at the centre. The man admitted that he developed a curiosity about young boys sometime last year.

In July last year, the two met at the student-care centre and the man asked the boy to accompany him to the male toilet on the second floor. The boy followed him into one of the cubicles without asking any questions.

In the cubicle, he asked the boy to remove his clothes. He refused at first but eventually gave in. The man went on to touch the boy’s chest and private parts.

Later that day, the boy told his mother what happened and a police report was made on Sept 7.

Court documents stated that the man also committed an indecent act with another nine-year-old boy in March last year. He asked the boy to strip naked in the church toilet and took a photograph of his naked body.

He pleaded guilty in March to one count of sexually exploiting a child, with another similar charge taken into consideration for sentencing.

The man’s lawyer David Nayar said then that he acted in the “spur of the moment” and out of curiosity.

For sexually exploiting a child or young person, the man could have been jailed up to five years and/or fined up to S$10,000.

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