SINGAPORE, Aug 9 — A 17-year-old male teenager, who sexually abused his sister over several years, was sentenced to 21 months’ probation and 180 hours of community service by the District Court yesterday.

Earlier in June, he was convicted of two charges — sexually abusing his sister and outraging her modesty. Six other similar charges were taken into consideration.

Both parties cannot be named due to a court order.

In sentencing the teen, District Judge May Mesenas ordered that any future contact between him and his sister should come under adult supervision.

Any mobile communication devices used by the teen must also have an Internet filter service so that his parents can monitor his Internet usage, she added.

Expressing remorse, the teen who was unrepresented pleaded for a second chance, to which the judge said: "Do you really understand and treasure this chance?”

"Because you have committed a very serious offence against your only sister, your younger sister, and threatened her. I really hope that she can heal from this,” she added.

The court was told that the first incident took place sometime in 2013, when the boy was then 12 years old and his sister was 10.

He had started watching pornography after chancing upon it while surfing the Internet at home.

One day, aroused from watching a television show, the boy told his sister to strip and had sex with her.

He threatened to report her mobile phone usage to their parents if she did not comply, and only stopped after the victim complained of pain and discomfort.

They were alone at home.

Although his parents discovered his actions, they did not lodge a police report. Instead, he was sent for counselling and was separated from his sister for a few months.

Three years later in 2016, he again preyed on his sister and molested her after watching pornography.

The prosecution had pointed out that the boy committed the offence against the victim because she was in close proximity to him, and "also because he was confident that she would not disclose what he did to her to others”.

After the boy’s parents discovered that he had been molesting his sister on several occasions, he was sent for counselling and had to live in his grandparents’ home.

Following six months of counselling, he was assessed to be able to move back with his immediate family. House rules were put in place as a deterrent, court documents stated without giving details, and he was closely supervised by his parents.

In June 2016, he started watching pornography to cope with stress from his studies.

On one occasion after a viewing, he told his sister — who was 13 at the time — to go to his room and proceeded to molest her again.

When the mother found out, she informed the counsellor in August that year and his case was referred to the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Child Protective Service (CPS).

In April last year, the parents and a CPS officer accompanied the girl to file a police report.

When the district judge pointed out in court that he had committed serious offences, the teen responded meekly that he "didn’t receive the appropriate treatment”, leading him to commit the sexual offences against his sister in 2016.

He added that he had since apologised to his sister. The boy is currently staying at his grandmother’s house, while his sister lives with their parents. — TODAY