Teen warned for sexually assaulting sister at 13 gets jail, caning for molesting her again
The teen spent about three years in a boys’ home before returning to his family.
File photo of the State Courts of Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
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SINGAPORE: A teenager who sexually assaulted his sister when he was 13 spent a few years in a boys’ home before returning to the family and molesting his sister again while she slept.
Although he was found suitable for reformative training, the now-19-year-old was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, with one stroke of the cane.
District Judge Carol Ling decided that the need for deterrence outweighed the emphasis on rehabilitation for a young offender.
The prosecution noted that the teen could control his behaviour as he had refrained from sexual relations with his girlfriend out of “religious conviction”, but chose not to with his sister.
The court also heard that the family had shown a “limited ability” to maintain protective measures such as separate sleeping arrangements and supervision.
The teenager is appealing against his sentence and is currently out on bail.
THE CASE
The offender cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim’s identity.
Based on a judgment made available on Sep 10, he was 13 when he sexually assaulted his sister and molested her without her consent. She is more than a year older than him.
The teen received a 12-month conditional warning. For protective reasons, he was sent to a welfare home for about three years and referred to the Positive Adolescent Sexuality Treatment Programme.
He returned to live with the victim and the rest of his family sometime in 2023.
He shared a bedroom with the victim and their younger brother, with the three sharing two mattresses.
On multiple occasions in February 2025, when he was 17 to 18, the teenager molested his sister at night while she was asleep.
The offence occurred at least twice a week. On some occasions, she woke up and turned away from him or became angry.
The family purchased a bunk bed which was placed in the bedroom in mid-February 2025. The teen and his brother slept on the lower bunk while their sister slept on the top.
Later that month, the teenager woke up and molested his sister while she was asleep on the upper bunk. His younger brother was not in the room.
She filed a police report on Mar 4, 2025.
The teenager, now 19, pleaded guilty to two counts of molesting his sister, with three other charges taken into consideration.
The prosecution had objected to calling for probation and reformative training suitability reports and called for jail with caning.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lu Huiyi said reformative training was inappropriate given the teen’s recalcitrance and the gravity of his offences against his sister.
Ms Lu noted that there was a pattern of reoffending against the same victim and what the prosecution described as a lack of genuine remorse, including the teen expressing hatred towards his sister.
He had also sought to justify his actions by claiming that his sister would “pretend to allow” his touches, said Ms Lu. She said any remorse was primarily towards his mother rather than the victim.
The prosecution also pointed to a poor family safeguarding environment and said that the offender chose not to exercise the self-restraint he had shown with his girlfriend.
The offender was represented by Mr Ashwin Ganapathy and Mr Daniel Yeap from the Public Defender’s Office (PDO). They called for probation and reformative training suitability reports, and subsequently argued for reformative training after reports found him suitable.
The PDO lawyers said their client was a young offender who was neither hardened nor recalcitrant. His earlier offence had resulted in a conditional warning rather than a conviction and thus could not sustain a finding of recalcitrance, they said.
They added that their client and his mother had shown effort to reduce the risk of reoffending after he returned home.
The lawyers argued that reformative training would provide a longer and more structured intervention than 12 months’ jail. He would spend at least 12 months in a reformative training centre before release, whereas a 12-month jail term could result in about eight months’ incarceration with remission.
Judge Ling acknowledged the emphasis on rehabilitation for a young offender but found that this was displaced by the need for deterrence.
She said the fact that there was “only one incident” before the current offences was of no credit to the offender, as a prior sexual offence against his own sister was “one incident too many”.
“The fact that the accused’s sexual offending was met with a conditional warning instead of court prosecution was an act of leniency extended to him by the authorities – one which he plainly took for granted, as his subsequent conduct showed,” said Judge Ling.
She added that it was particularly troubling that the teen had targeted his sister, and there was a “certain vindictiveness” in his conduct.
Prior intervention focusing on his rehabilitation had also failed, said the judge.
The appeal will be heard at a later date.
Source: CNA/ll(bg)
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