A WOMAN'S call to the police, to report a man walking around naked in the flat opposite hers, led to the exposure of a string of sexual assaults on a 12-year-old boy.

The man, a 68-year-old freelance magician, who was teaching the boy magic, had talked the secondary school student, now 13, into engaging in sex acts with him.

On Tuesday, the man, who cannot be named to protect the boy's identity, was jailed six years for the offences in July and August last year.

He had pleaded guilty in May to four counts of sexual assault. Another 11 charges were taken into consideration.

In sentencing, Justice Choo Han Teck took into account the ages of the boy and the man, the man's personal circumstances and his lack of criminal history.

He said: 'The accused did not commit any such offences before, and I am of the view that he would not likely repeat these offences which he had committed in a relatively late stage of his life.'

selinal@sph.com.sg

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.