Youth who molested younger cousin gets reformative training
From the age of 13, he began molesting his younger cousin, eventually penetrating her and making her perform sex acts on him.
The now 20-year-old was caught in 2017, when the victim thought she was pregnant. Yesterday, he was sentenced to reformative training for at least a year.
He previously pleaded guilty to one charge of outrage of modesty and two charges of sexual penetration of a minor. Another 14 similar charges were taken into consideration. He cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.
The abuse began in early 2014, when the accused was 13 and the victim was eight years old. They used to play together, and she regarded him as her older brother.
In 2014, he saw her come out of the shower naked, and later had desires to see her naked again.
A few months later, she stayed over at his home, and he molested her on their grandmother's bed. When he asked if she was fine, she said she was. It happened again several months later. Over the years, he penetrated her several times until August 2017. By then, the accused was 17, and the victim 12.
The abuse came to light on Aug 25, 2017, when the victim thought she might be pregnant after experiencing stomach pains. She shared her fears with her friends, and her teacher took her to the police station.
Throughout the abuse, the victim did not understand the seriousness of the matter and kept quiet as she did not want her family to break up.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Kee En previously said the offences were heinous, but the question for sentencing was how to balance the objectives of rehabilitation and deterrence.
The accused is currently out on bail and is expected to surrender himself on Nov 12 to begin serving his sentence.
For each count of sexually penetrating a child below 14 years old, he could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
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