SINGAPORE: A 17-year-old polytechnic student was on
Monday sentenced to 21 months probation, for insulting a teenage
girl's modesty and other charges.
These include sexual penetration of a minor,
possession of obscene films, and criminal
intimidation.
He will also have to perform 150 hours of community
service, stay indoors between 10:00pm and 6:00am, and have his
internet usage supervised by both a probation officer and his
parents.
The court heard that the boy made the girl perform oral sex on him
after coming across pornographic material on the internet.
He then filmed her doing so without her knowledge and uploaded the
video on a US-based pornographic website, going as far as to
include the girl's full name and telephone number.
The video was circulated on other pornographic websites, and the
girl began receiving phone calls and text messages from strangers
who harassed her about the video.
The offences were committed between April 2009 and August
2011.
Both the accused and the victim cannot be named to protect the
girl's identity.
The girl was only 13 when the boy first had sex with her, and
according to court documents, the pair were schoolmates who were in
a relationship.
Things soured when he asked the girl to perform oral sex on him on
several occasions and she refused.
He threatened to tell people that they had been having sex, and she
felt pressured into agreeing.
The couple later broke up when the girl found out about the
uploaded video.
She told a teacher about the video when she found she was still
being harassed by strangers.
The teacher then informed the girl's mother, who took her to lodge
a police report.
In addition to the charges involving the girl, the boy pleaded
guilty to stealing two bicycles in May this year.
In delivering the sentence, District Judge Shaifuddin Saruwan noted
that until the commission of the offences, the boy was well-behaved
and had performed satisfactorily at school.
He said the sexually explicit material the boy found on the
internet and lack of parental guidance and counselling led him to
have a distorted view of relationships.
Mr Shaifuddin added that while the boy's offences were serious, he
could still be suitable for probation instead of reformative
training - given his previously unblemished record, low to moderate
risk of re-offending, and parental support.
The judge also ordered that the boy be electronically-tagged for
the first four months of his probation, and be supervised for the
remaining 17 months.
The boy's case will be reviewed in four months time.
- CNA/ck