HIV-infected man gets 33 months' jail for sexual offences with low IQ teen

A man who snatched a woman's handbag and broke into a home to steal after losing money at a casino was jailed a total of three years on Thursday. -- PHOTO: ST GRAPHICS
A man who snatched a woman's handbag and broke into a home to steal after losing money at a casino was jailed a total of three years on Thursday. -- PHOTO: ST GRAPHICS

SINGAPORE - A man infected with HIV who engaged in sexual activities with a teen was jailed for 33 months on Thursday.

The 40-year-old man, who faced seven charges, admitted to two charges of sexually abusing the 15-year-old boy and one of not informing him of the risk of contracting HIV from him, and getting his voluntary agreement to accept that risk before engaging in sexual activities.

The offences took place at a staircase landing of a block of flats in Marsiling Road on Aug 9 last year.

He cannot be named as there is a gag order.

The court heard that the accused approached the victim, who has borderline IQ, and his friends on the pretext of befriending them. He told them to add him as a friend on Facebook.

He also invited the group to go to his home, but only the victim did so.

Instead of taking the teen to the flat, the man took him to the 20th floor staircase landing, where he committed the offences.

When the victim did not come down after some time, his friends became worried and went to look for him. They found his shoes outside a unit but were turned away by the accused's room-mate.

The group asked a passer-by to help, and when they all went to the flat, they were told that the victim had left. They eventually found him at the void deck.

A dispute ensued between the accused and his room-mate. The police were called.

The maximum penalty for each sexual offence is 10 years' jail and a fine. The man could have been fined up to $50,000 and/or jailed for up to 10 years under the Infectious Diseases Act.

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