SINGAPORE - A sound system technician who had sex with a 15-year-old girl was jailed for nine months on Wednesday (April 6).
Muhammad Khirman Mohd Khalid, 28, had pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration of a minor in his flat in Yishun Ring Road some time in June 2014.
Two other charges of digitally penetrating the girl were taken into consideration in sentencing.
The court heard that they met through Facebook before June 2014 and, after a few days of exchanging messages on Facebook and WhatsApp, he suggested that they meet.
She met him at his home one afternoon in June 2014. They went to his bedroom where he committed the offences. After sex, he asked her to be his girlfriend and she agreed. That evening, they had sex again a second time.
The offences came to light in June last year when police received information that the girl had engaged in sex with a number of other men.
Pleading for leniency, Khirman, who was unrepresented, said the girl had stated on Facebook that she was born in October 1990.
But the prosecution said this was not a defence and was not borne out in any of the investigation papers.
The case was then adjourned for the prosecution to look into the matter.
On Wednesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Michael Quilindo told the court that the prosecution was of the view that Khirman's alleged claim was not mitigatory.
He said the girl had stated on her Facebook page that she was a secondary school student. This incongruence should have raised some alarm bells, he said.
He also said there was no active misrepresentation on her part, and also no indication that Khirman enquired about her age.
The DPP submitted for a sentence of 10 months, saying there was no compelling reason to deviate from this.
Khirman could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each charge of having sex with a person under 16.
