A 27-year-old serial sex predator who preyed on three girls, including his younger sister, was sentenced to 16 years’ jail and 15 strokes of the cane yesterday.
He molested his sister, who was then 11 years old, after showing her a pornographic video. He also had sex with two girls, who were between 13 and 14 years old, after entering into romantic relationships with them.
The offences took place between 2016 and 2020, when he was between 19 and 22 years old. Prosecutors told the High Court that despite being hauled up to give a statement to the police in May 2018, and being arrested in April 2020, the man was undeterred and continued offending.
The man pleaded guilty to five charges: four for sexual penetration of a minor and one for aggravated outrage of modesty.
Another 15 charges for various sexual offences – including one for abetting the rape of one of his underage girlfriends – were taken into consideration for sentencing.
In sentencing, Justice Hoo Sheau Peng considered the vulnerability of the girls and the man’s recalcitrance.
The judge said a strong message must be sent to the like-minded that preying on vulnerable victims will not be tolerated.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sheldon Lim told the court that one evening in 2016, the man called his younger sister to his room. After closing the door, the man showed her a video on his mobile phone depicting oral sex and asked her to perform the act.
After she told him that she did not want to do it, he touched her inappropriately. The siblings’ mother, niece and nephew were asleep in another room at the time. The victim told her older sister and mother about the abuse in September 2020.
The following month, the girl disclosed the abuse to her form teacher and counsellor, which led to a police report being made. By that time, he was also in trouble for other sex offences.
In June 2017, the man, who was then 19, entered into a relationship with a 14-year-old girl.
Between June 10, 2017 and July 23, 2017, he had sex with her at locations such as the staircase landing of a multi-storey carpark.
The victim told her form teacher about the sex acts on Aug 7, 2017. The teacher then informed the girl’s mother, who made a police report later that day. The police recorded a statement from the man on May 25, 2018.
In October 2019, the man entered into a romantic relationship with the third victim. The man, who was then 22 years old, knew she was turning 14 in December that year. He admitted that he had sex with her more than 10 times between November 2019 and April 15, 2020.
On April 15, 2020, two police officers conducting routine patrols came upon the man and the girl at the staircase landing of a multistorey carpark.
The officers arrested the man after they checked his phone and discovered videos of the girl performing oral sex on him. Despite the arrest, the man committed more sex crimes against the victim.
On the night between June 27 and June 28, 2020, he held the victim down while her 14-year-old schoolmate raped her on the floor of a toilet at Admiralty Park. The man also had sex with her at a staircase landing on June 28, 2020. The rapist has been sentenced to eight years’ jail and three strokes of the cane.
