HELMY Mahamod did not learn his lesson the first time around and
on Feb 1, the 28-year-old repeat offender was sentenced to 14
months in jail for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
Eight years ago, he had committed a similar offence with a
different minor and was jailed four months. On both occasions, he
got to know the victims through Internet chatrooms and the
prosecutor had asked for a deterrent sentence as Helmy had not
changed a bit. The unemployed man is appealing against the
sentence.
He admitted to getting to know the second victim, a secondary
school student, in December 2006. They would go on outings with
other chatroom members and sometime in March or April 2007, the
couple had gone to her flat first. She was a virgin and he had sex
with her without using a condom. He also recorded it with a digital
camera.
In his defence, Helmy claimed that he was suffering from a
psychiatric problem which was undetected when he committed the
offence but a report from the Institute of Mental Health stated
that he had no mental or sexual disorder at that time.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ruth Wong had asked the court to jail
Helmy for 15 months as he had twice preyed on victims through
chatrooms. The use of a digital camera to record the sexual act was
also very serious as it allowed for repeated viewings and could
cause great embarrassment to the victim if the footage fell into
the wrong hands, she said.
Helmy, who pleaded guilty on the sixth day of the trial, could
have been jailed up to five years and fined up to $10,000.
-- ST