An unemployed man who molested a young girl and her sister-in-law within moments of each other was on Thursday sentenced to nine months in prison.

Razak Ridwan, 47, approached the 12-year-old outside her father's photography shop on Dec 31 last year, where she was playing with her niece and nephew.

When the girl noticed Razak standing to her right, she thought he needed more space to pass her and took a step to her left. But Razak reached out and touched her private parts through the front of her jeans.

He repeated the act on her 26-year-old sister-in-law, who was standing nearby.

He pleaded guilty to molesting the girl, with one other count of molesting her sister-in-law taken into consideration.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Lu had called for a jail term and three strokes of the cane, but District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt spared Razak caning on account of his history of schizophrenia.

Razak had previously been convicted of theft in dwelling and mischief in 1985 and 1987. He could have been jailed for up to ten years, fined, and caned for outraging the modesty of someone under 14 years of age.