Teenager pleads guilty to sexually abusing girlfriend, having sex with 13-year-old

SINGAPORE — From the moment they started dating, a 17-year-old told his girlfriend that he wanted to be physically intimate with her.

His 15-year-old girlfriend constantly rebuffed him but relented after he asked why she was unwilling to sleep with him when other girls were willing to. 

The girl’s caretakers found out and the matter was referred to the police. But just a month later, the teenager went on to have underage sex with a 13-year-old girl after getting her to drink some beer. 

On Tuesday (May 5), the offender, now aged 19, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration of a minor and three other unrelated charges of theft and harassing an unlicensed moneylender’s debtor.

He cannot be named due to a court order to protect his victims’ identities.

Another 10 charges, including molestation and voluntarily causing hurt, will be taken into consideration for sentencing next month. 

District Judge Eddy Tham called for reports to assess if he is suitable for probation or reformative training.

Reformative training — a regimented rehabilitation programme for offenders under the age of 21 who commit relatively serious crimes — is a harsher punishment than probation which allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Victoria Ting, who sought a reformative training report, said that his offences were “very serious in nature” and that the unlicensed moneylending ones would attract mandatory caning for adult offenders.

The teenager’s lawyer, Mr Gino Hardial Singh, asked for a probation report to be called as he had no previous offences and is 19 years old. 

District Judge Tham said: “At this stage, I will still keep an open mind despite the number of very egregious offences, especially those committed while on bail.” 

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that the teenager and his first victim started a relationship in August 2018 when she was staying at a shelter.

DPP Ting said: “From the outset of their relationship, the accused would indicate his desire to be physically intimate with (her). However, she rejected him as she knew she should not be having sexual intercourse at her age.”

In November that year, the girl rejected him again at his flat. 

He grew frustrated and they got into a fight before they calmed down and lay on the bed. He then climbed on top of her and took off her shorts and underwear. 

At this point, she decided to agree to have sex with him as she thought she loved him, DPP Ting said. The couple frequently had sex until March 2019. 

Staff members at the shelter then noticed that she appeared depressed and she told them about the “abusive relationship”. No further details were given in court documents.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development then informed the police about it because there had been several occasions when they had sex. It was not stated if the offender and the girl stopped seeing each other after this.

When they were dating, the teenager shoplifted two cartons of beer from a supermarket along Havelock Road. He was captured on closed-circuit television cameras and arrested a week later when he returned to the supermarket to buy cigarettes. 

On April 25 last year, he met his 13-year-old ex-girlfriend at his home with his cousin and other friends. 

The ex-girlfriend had just been discharged from hospital for chest and stomach discomfort.

She grew tipsy after drinking about half a can of beer that he had given her. At about 3am, when the others left, they had sex in the living room.

It was her first time having sexual intercourse and she experienced discomfort afterwards. Her father took her to the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and a police report was made.

After the teenager was charged in court in June last year, he committed more offences while out on bail. He worked as a loan-shark runner and locked two gates with a bicycle lock and splashed the gates with paint.

He was arrested after being identified from police camera footage and has been in remand since last July.