Repeat sex offender who preyed on children gets 15 years’ preventive detention in fourth conviction

SINGAPORE - A 60-year-old recalcitrant sexual predator who spent one-third of his adult life in prison was sentenced on Nov 25 to 15 years’ preventive detention, his fourth incarceration for preying on children.

In September 2023, less than three years after his last release from prison in March 2021, Terence Thaver molested an eight-year-old boy he had befriended over a game of chess.

Thaver had

pleaded guilty on Aug 11

to a charge of outrage of modesty relating to the boy, as well as two charges of unnatural sex for offences committed in 2007 against another victim, who was then nine years old.

Under preventive detention, recalcitrant offenders are incarcerated for up to 20 years for the protection of the public and are not automatically entitled to the usual one-third remission of their sentences.

Instead, such inmates can be eligible for release on licence, meaning they have to comply with specified conditions, after serving two-thirds or five-sixths of their sentences.

After earlier calling for a report to assess Thaver’s suitability for preventive detention, High Court Judge Valerie Thean on Nov 25 said she was satisfied that it was warranted for the protection of the public.

The fact that he was able to remain crime-free for only 30 months since his last incarceration is cause for concern, she said.

The judge noted that Thaver reoffended despite his previous sentences and the psychiatric treatment he was receiving in 2023.

His risk of reoffending was assessed to be high, she added.

However, Justice Thean said the duration of detention should not be so long that Thaver no longer has incentive to work hard in his treatment.

The prosecution had sought at least 18 years’ preventive detention, while the defence asked for a term of nine to 11 years.

Thaver was a primary school teacher when he molested four 10-year-old girls in school between 1999 and 2000.

He was sentenced in 2001 to eight years in jail and 24 strokes of the cane.

In 2008, he hugged and kissed an eight-year-old boy at a neighbourhood outreach centre where he worked.

He was sentenced to one year in jail in 2010.

Between 2007 and 2008, he performed oral sex on a boy, then between 10 and 11 years old, after offering to help the victim with his homework. These offences came to light only in 2012, and Thaver was sentenced to 13 years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane in 2014.

In November 2021, another case from the neighbourhood outreach centre emerged: A 26-year-old man, who was sexually exploited at the centre in 2007 when he was a Primary 3 pupil, reported the incidents to the police.

The police gave Thaver a three-year conditional warning for these offences. 

However, charges were brought against Thaver for this set of offences after he molested the eight-year-old victim in September 2023.

On Sept 27, 2023, Thaver hugged the boy from behind and slipped his hand briefly into the victim’s shorts.

The next day, the boy told his mother what Thaver had done, and she lodged a police report. 

Thaver was arrested on Sept 29 and has been in remand since.

In sentencing arguments on Nov 25, Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Chong said Thaver showed a tendency to “externalise blame” to his victims instead of taking responsibility, and a tendency to spend time interacting with children without other adults present. 

Thaver’s lawyer, Public Defender Edwin Ho, said Thaver mistakenly thought that he was “safe” around children, given that he was going through consistent sessions of psychotherapy at the time.

Mr Ho argued that while his client must be punished for his despicable act, the “fleeting touch” in 2023 was less serious than the previous spate of offences.