SINGAPORE, March 8 — After attending religious classes at a neighbour’s house, an 18-year-old youth would sexually assault the woman’s granddaughter, beginning when she was nine years old.

Now 20 years old, he was a student and later a full-time national serviceman (NSF) when he sexually abused the girl, who was attending Primary 4 to 6 at the time.

A judge today called for a reformative training suitability report for the young man, who has pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual offences against a person aged under 14.

Six other charges involving the sexual abuse of the same victim will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

The report will assess the young man’s suitability for reformative training, a regime where young offenders are detained at a reformative training centre and undergo required rehabilitation programmes.

The name of the man cannot be published due to a court order protecting the girl’s identity.

What happened

At the time of the offences in 2021 and 2022, the victim was living with her maternal grandmother. The man lived on the same floor as the girl’s grandmother.

The girl’s grandmother conducted religious classes on weekday evenings at her home, which the young man had been attending since 2017, when he was 14 years old.

After one such class, at around 8pm in November 2021, the then 18-year-old youth went to sit beside the girl on the sofa, in the living room where the classes were conducted.

He watched TikTok videos on his phone with the girl, who was nine years old at the time and a Primary 4 student. The girl’s grandmother was watching television on the sofa but soon fell asleep.

After he noticed that the grandmother had fallen asleep, he placed his arm on the girl’s shoulders and hugged her waist.

He then asked the girl if she wanted to touch his private parts and sexually assaulted the girl while her grandmother was still fast asleep, before going home.

Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) Claire Poh and Maximilian Chew told the court that the girl felt "deeply embarrassed and confused” about what had happened and did not confide in her parents or grandmother.

Another two incidents of sexual abuse after the youth’s religious classes took place when the girl was between nine and 11 years old and he was aged 18 and 19.

A fourth and final incident took place on January 23, 2023, when the young man was 19 years old and an NSF.

He sexually assaulted the girl, who was 11 years old at the time and "did not resist” after remembering what had happened in the three previous incidents, said the DPPs.

Slightly over a week later, on January 31, 2023, the girl’s teacher caught her writing "free hug” notes in school and referred her to the school counsellor.

After some questioning, the girl revealed that she had been touched inappropriately by the young man and the school immediately informed the girl’s mother and grandmother, who brought her to lodge a police report on the same day.

A Child Guidance Clinic report by a psychiatrist and senior consultant with the Institute of Mental Health stated that the girl had been feeling "sad, scared and angry” since the abuse.

The girl also had insomnia, loss of appetite and had flashbacks and recurrent thoughts about the abuse, noted the report, which stated that she was scared of males and had difficulty trusting others.

The prosecution sought a total sentence of eight to 10 years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane.

DPP Chew told the court that reformative training would be "inappropriate” in this case, as the young man was 18 to 19 years old when he committed the offences and was not an "immature offender”.

He added the teen’s sexual assault was premeditated, involved an abuse of trust and an especially vulnerable victim who he had sexually assaulted four times over the course of one year.

The young man’s lawyer, Mr Abdul Rahman Mohd Hanipah from Abdul Rahman Law Corporation, instead asked for the court to call for a reformative training suitability report.

Mr Abdul argued that since the man was 20 years old this year, the jail term sought by the prosecution would be "crippling” for him and take away a "large chunk of his youth”.

He will return to court for sentencing on April 2.

Those who commit the offence of sexual penetration of a person aged under 14 can be jailed for up to 20 years, and may also be punished with a fine or caning. — TODAY