Man gets 42 months' jail for sex acts on young boys

A man with borderline intelligence was jailed for 42 months for performing sex acts on young boys.

The 21-year-old, who cannot be named as he was friends with the victims, pleaded guilty yesterday to four charges of sexual penetration of a minor under the age of 16.

Another 28 charges were taken into consideration. These included other charges of sexual penetration, sexual exploitation of a child and sending obscene images to a child.

From mid-2018 to end-2019, the man, a part-time deliveryman, performed sex acts with three victims at various locations, including staircase landings and a public toilet, more than 20 times .

Two of the victims were aged 12 at the time, and the third was 13 years old. A fourth victim received an obscene photograph from him.

The court heard that the man became friends with the victims through other mutual friends and shared common interests such as fishing, e-biking and cycling.

The boys had agreed to the sex acts, but one of them later cut off communication with the man.

It was not revealed in court how his offences came to light.

He appeared via video in court yesterday, and was seen covering his face with his hand as details of his offences were read out.

A woman believed to be related to him was seen crying in the public gallery. Two other men, also believed to be relatives, were seen with reddened eyes as the court proceedings went on.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Teh urged the court to jail the man for 45 months. The DPP said the many offences were committed over a span of 1½ years and were not isolated incidents.

Defence lawyer Marshall Lim asked the court for a sentence of not more than 39 months, saying his client had borderline intelligence, and was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anger management issues. He had been exempted from national service because of this.

Mr Lim said the man had surrendered himself at a neighbourhood police centre in January last year, before he turned 21, and accepted responsibility for his actions.

District Judge Teoh Ai Lin said she noted the circumstances raised by Mr Lim, but agreed with the prosecution that deterrence was the primary sentencing consideration because the offences involved four young boys, and there were many charges to take into consideration.

She backdated the sentence to Jan 15 last year, when he was remanded, and instructed that a copy of the man's psychiatric report be handed to the prison, for him to receive appropriate care and treatment while in jail.