SINGAPORE - A man who was out on bail for molesting a 10-year-old girl committed a similar offence just over a year later, targeting a 21-year-old woman while riding a bus.

The 49-year-old Singaporean, who was convicted in 2005 for outrage of modesty, was on Thursday (March 4) sentenced to 18 months' jail and two strokes of the cane.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to four charges - two for outrage of modesty, and one each for voluntarily causing hurt and disorderly behaviour.

The man cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim's identity.

The court heard that on July 21, 2019, the man invited the girl to his flat for drinks.

He had been playing with her and her siblings in the void deck of their block earlier that afternoon.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Angela Ang said after the victim took a bottle of grape-flavoured Fanta from the fridge in his flat, the man invited her to sit with him in the living room.

The victim complied. The man then held her by her waist and kissed her on the cheek and lips.

Afraid, she cried and told him she wanted to go home. She later told her mother about the incident and they made a police report.

The same resident had assaulted a 22-year-old man who is mentally disabled on June 29 that year.

After inviting the younger man to his flat, he donned boxing gloves and punched the 22-year-old in the face multiple times.

When the victim tried to defend himself, he removed his gloves and continued to punch the victim in the face until he bled. The man also hit the victim in his back using a wooden stick.

The victim's grandmother later helped him alert the police.

While the man was out on bail for molesting the girl, he outraged the modesty of the 21-year-old woman.

On Aug 14 last year, the man, who was sitting directly behind the victim on the bus, touched the left side of her body under the armpit area.

The victim felt something pressing against her and realised the man had slipped his hand through the gap between the window and her seat.

When she turned around and confronted him, he quickly retracted his hand and apologised. The victim later told her family about the incident and made a police report.

In the case of disorderly behaviour, the man had created a scene at a restaurant on April 21 last year when staff told him that dining in was not allowed owing to the circuit breaker.

The man refused to listen and argued loudly with restaurant staff, who noted that he appeared intoxicated. He also kicked a restaurant chair and damaged it.

Those convicted of molesting a child below 14 years old can be jailed for up to 10 years and caned.

Offenders convicted of behaving in a disorderly manner in public can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $2,000.