SINGAPORE, Aug 3 — An 18-year-old teenager was given 21 months’ probation today (August 3) for offences such as throwing his neighbour’s stool from the sixth floor of their public housing block and molesting an underage girl.
The Singaporean youth cannot be named as he committed the offences when he was under 18 years old. The Children and Young Persons Act bans the publication of identities of accused persons of that age.
Under his probation conditions, he has to remain indoors from 10pm to 6pm, perform 60 hours of community service, and get treatment at the Institute of Mental Health’s National Addictions Management Service for his alcohol use.
He also has to attend offence-specific treatment to address his sexual offending behaviour. His father posted a bond of S$5,000 (RM15,624) to ensure his good behaviour.
The teen pleaded guilty earlier this year to one charge of outraging the modesty of a minor under 14, committing a rash act that endangered the personal safety of others, and misappropriating a bicycle.
District Judge Kessler Soh took into consideration another three similar charges for sentencing.
The teen’s lawyer, Jerome Tan, argued that he was more suitable for probation rather than reformative training as he had already been in remand for more than six months.
The teen would be staying with his father rather than his grandmother upon his release, and he had shown more receptiveness to his father’s disciplinary methods, the lawyer added.
Reformative training, a regimented rehabilitation programme, is a more severe punishment for young offenders.
Probation does not result in a recorded criminal conviction and allows offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.
What happened
The court heard that the accused molested the girl, then aged 13, after a drinking session in June 2019. He was aged 16 at the time.
After a sleepover with three friends at his flat in the eastern region of Singapore, he woke up at about 2pm.
One of his friends then said he had invited three more people over for a drinking session, including the girl who ended up being the accused’s victim.
According to the accused, he drank about 12 to 13 cans of beer before the three new guests arrived.
At some point after the three had arrived, the victim was seated on a bed in the living room when the accused approached her suddenly and pleaded with her to have sex with him. He then pushed her and touched her inappropriately “all over her body”, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Stephanie Chew told the court.
The victim told him she did not want to have sex with him and ran out of the house.
Separately in the same month, the teen went to a Decathlon outlet near Stadium Boulevard to shop for bicycle component parts.
When he got there, he noticed an unsecured “Engine 11 sprinter” fixed-gear bicycle that a 15-year-old boy had left outside the Decathlon entrance.
This type of bicycle, commonly known as a fixie, usually does not come with brakes. The Government has since said they will be banned from public roads and paths.
The teen stole the fixie and rode it home.
He had several friends who rode the same brand of bike and knew its body could fetch a very good price even when sold secondhand. He then dismantled the two wheels and listed the body for sale on e-marketplace Carousell for S$750.
When he received an offer, he went to meet the buyer but was detained by plainclothes police officers.
Shortly after, on July 3, 2019, he was home after skipping school when he decided to throw his neighbour’s stool from the sixth floor.
When someone called the police, the teen told officers that he was innocent as he was afraid of getting into trouble, but subsequently admitted to his offence in a police statement. ― TODAY
