A cleaner was given 13 months' jail yesterday for having underage sex with a 13-year-old girl who skipped school to meet him.

On the morning of Feb 10, the victim had planned to run away from home after school, due to some family problems.

When Mohammad Noor Mohmmad Ali sent her a message on WhatsApp to meet him that morning at Marsiling MRT station, she did not go to school and went to meet him instead.

The girl, who was in her school uniform, followed the 23-year-old to a Housing Board block in the estate.

At a staircase landing, he became intimate with her and committed three sexual offences, two of which were taken into consideration. They parted ways after she told him she wanted to go home. She went to meet a friend.

A few days later, he sent her a text message, asking her to meet him. But she did not want to be disturbed by him again and told him that she was at the police station.

Noor then threatened her, saying that if he were put into a lock-up, he would come out and do something to her.

He also said he was "used" to being in a lock-up.

The girl had come to know Noor late last year in a WhatsApp chat group. She told the group she was 14 when she was in fact 13.

Noor pleaded guilty on June 23 to one count of sexual penetration of a minor. He was supposed to return to court on July 20 for mitigation and sentencing but jumped bail. His $15,000 bail has been forfeited by the court.

Yesterday, Noor was sentenced to 13 months' jail, with the sentence backdated to his remand on Aug 27 when he was re-arrested by the police.

He has a string of convictions for property-related offences including theft and robbery.

In mitigation, he said he regretted his actions and asked for a lighter sentence.

He could have been jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined.

Elena Chong