Man, jailed twice over sex acts with minors, now back behind bars for molesting teen

SINGAPORE - A recalcitrant offender, who has been in and out of jail for sex offences against minors, is back behind bars after he molested an underage girl earlier this year.

Xavier Lee Wei Jie, now 30, was on Monday (Nov 15) sentenced to 10 months' jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of outrage of modesty involving a 14-year-old student on July 30.

In 2015, the Singaporean man was sentenced to a year's jail for having sex with a 12-year-old girl. He reoffended after his release and was jailed again in 2019.

Lee had met his latest victim through one of her friends and was aware of the girls' ages.

He started communicating with the victim through social media platform Instagram and asked her to meet him at a playground near Block 283 Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 on July 30.

The victim and her friend, also 14, were in school uniforms when they met him there at around 4pm that day.

They sat at the playground with Lee on the victim's right.

He pinched the victim's cheeks and touched her chin before telling her that she would soon get raped.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kathy Chu said: "The victim felt uncomfortable with this statement as she was aware of the accused's criminal antecedents. The accused patted the victim's head.

"The accused stood up and went behind the victim and touched her hair and her cheeks. The victim pushed his hand away each time."

Undeterred, Lee brushed his hand against the victim's chest and told her to perform sexual acts on him. He also asked the girl to either follow him home or to a nearby staircase.

Court documents did not say what the girl's friend was doing at the time.

The victim refused and the trio left the playground at around 5pm that day.

Later that evening, the victim told him via text messages that she was uncomfortable with what he had done.

The DPP said: "The accused said he would not do anything from then on and asked if he could take responsibility by making her his girlfriend, and told her he loved her."

The girl told her mother about her ordeal before filing a police report the next day.

On Monday, DPP Chu urged the court to sentence Lee to between eight and 10 months' jail, stressing that he has a history of committing sexual offences against minors.

Lee, who was unrepresented, pleaded for leniency and said that he was remorseful.

For molestation, an offender can be jailed for up to two years and fined or caned.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.