SINGAPORE, July 12 — A serial molester who had been in and out of court since 2013 was back at his old ways again in January, when he molested a 14-year-old girl at a bus stop.

Sim Teck Chye, 45, was sentenced to a jail term of one year, nine months and three weeks yesterday, after pleading guilty to one count of outrage of modesty, another for house trespass, and a third count of theft.

In 2017, the unemployed man was jailed six months for touching a woman's thigh on an MRT train along the East-West Line.

He was caught red-handed as the incident was captured on video, which went viral on social media.

The court heard that on the morning of Jan 31 this year, the teenage victim and a male classmate were waiting for their bus at a bus stop.

When her classmate left her to talk to his friends, Sim took the opportunity to approach her, and he poked her in the chest with his finger. He also asked if she could help flag down his bus.

At that point, the victim's classmate came back and Sim left quickly, and the two secondary school students boarded their bus.

As they sat at the back of the bus and discussed what to do, the boy noticed that Sim was also on the bus. They contacted their form teacher via a mobile phone, and he told them to tell the bus driver.

As another of their friends went up to the driver, Sim alighted the bus and fled. He was arrested five days later.

The court also heard that Sim committed his first property-related crimes last December.

On Dec 21, 2017, Sim entered the home of a Malaysian citizen — Lee Sai Hao, 25 — who was working as a kitchen assistant with Amitabha Buddhist Society, which is located in Geylang.

Lee's unit was located in the same building as the society.

At about 2.20pm, Lee ended his lunch break and left his unit door unlocked as he returned to work. Sim entered the unit, searched it and and found Lee's wallet in a drawer. He took the wallet and almost S$500 (RM1,482.09) in cash.

Mr Lee lodged a police report after he returned and discovered the theft. Sim was identified through closed-circuit television footage. — TODAY