Man, 20, pleads guilty to performing sexual acts on 12-year-old girlfriend when he was a teen

SINGAPORE – Despite being under police investigations for having sex with his underage ex-girlfriend when she was 13 to 14 years old, a teen met another girl and had sex with her when she was 12.

On Feb 4, the offender, now 20, admitted to performing sexual acts with the two girls on at least 20 occasions between November 2019 and March 2023.

He and the two victims, identified in court documents as V1 and V2, cannot be named due to gag orders on their identities. Those below 18 are protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.

The offender, who was dressed in a suit, nodded several times and kept his head down as the statement of facts detailing his offences was read out in court.

Deputy public prosecutors Teo Siu Ming and Thaddeus Tan said the accused and V1 met through a mutual friend in 2021. She was 12 at the time and the teen was aware of her age.

They began a romantic relationship a few months later but the teen consciously avoided sexual contact with V1 in the first year of their relationship as he was under investigation for having sex with his underage ex-girlfriend between 2019 and 2020.

In 2022, the teen and V1 started to engage in consensual sexual activity. They did so at multiple locations, including his house and V1’s house when her parents were not at home. They also performed sexual acts at movie screenings.

On two occasions in 2022, the teen covertly used his mobile phone to record videos of them having sex.

The prosecution said these videos were discovered only when V1 checked his mobile phone. She and a friend then confronted the teen to demand that he delete the videos and he complied.

The couple broke up in early 2023.

DPP Tan urged the judge to call for a report to assess the young man’s suitability for reformative training.

On the teen covertly recording himself and V1 engaging in sexual activity, DPP Tan said: “While (the defence counsel) said they were in a relationship when this happened, the sanctity of this relationship would have surely been violated.”

In mitigation, defence lawyer A. Ravidass said a probation suitability report for his client should be called as well.

He added: “My client is a youthful offender and his parents are here in court to support him. He has excelled in his studies and this shows that he is capable of moving on with his life.”

In response, Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh said: “Doing well in his studies is all well and good, but I’m confronted with multiple offences that are serious.”

The judge added that probation would not be suitable in this case, and called for a reformative training suitability report for the teen.

The case was adjourned, and the young offender is set to be sentenced in April.