Teen admits to sex with fellow male resident of children's home

SINGAPORE — Alone in the living room of the children's home they were residing in, two male teenagers were discussing their relationships with other male friends, when the older boy molested his younger friend.

Emboldened by the lack of resistance, the then 16-year-old yanked his 14-year-old victim's pants down and performed a few sex acts.

On Wednesday (Aug 15), the teen, now 17, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration of a minor under 16. A third charge for a similar offence will be taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing, which has been adjourned to a later date.

Both teens cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect their identities.

The court was told that the incident took place in the unnamed children's home on Oct 9, 2016 around 10pm.

The victim, then a Secondary Two student, had his prayer book with him, and wanted to resume praying.

Noticing that his victim was crawling on all fours towards him, the older teen touched the younger boy' private parts.

The court also heard that the next day, when the younger teen left for school, the older teen — then a Secondary Three student — followed him.

They went to Serangoon bus interchange together, and the older teen led the younger boy into a toilet on the second floor of Nex shopping mall, which was located above the bus interchange.

There, they went into the same cubicle, where the older teen molested the younger boy, and then performed sexual acts on him.

The whole episode lasted 30 seconds, the court heard.

Later that evening, the home's head of social work department called the police to report what had happened. Court documents did not reveal how he knew, or who had told him about the incidents.

The 17-year-old will return to court for sentencing on Aug 21. The District Judge on Wednesday called for a reformative training suitability report, as well as a probation report.

For sexual penetration of a minor under 16, the teen could be sentenced to a jail term of up to 10 years and/or fined.