SCREENGRAB from The Straits Times/Asia News Network
SINGAPORE—A 30-year-old man had sex with a 12-year-old girl who was drunk and sleeping in a chalet.
The 2012 offense came to light in May 2014 when the girl, then 14, revealed the incident to a youth case worker with the Ministry of Social and Family Development during a counseling session.
On Monday (Oct 12), Oh Boon Yaw, 33 and unemployed, was jailed for two years after admitting to underage sex in the East Coast Parkway chalet sometime in August 2012.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Puvaneswari Sandirasekaran said that Oh and the girl befriended each other in a LAN shop at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre during the June school holidays in 2012. She told him her age.
After a while, they met up often and were eventually in a relationship.
About two months later, the girl, Oh and some of their friends went to the chalet. They spent the night drinking alcohol and playing games.
Both the girl and Oh were drunk that night.
When the girl was sleeping in the bedroom, Oh slept beside her on the same bed while the friends slept in the other bed in the same room..
He was aroused and undressed the girl who woke up and saw him getting up on top of her.
He had sex with her without her consent. She knew what was happening but did not stop him as she was drunk and sleepy.
Seeking a sentence of at least 24 months to be imposed, Ms Puvaneswari said the victim was young and vulnerable. She also said there was a substantial age gap of about 18 years between them.
She highlighted that Oh in this case was “opportunistic” as he had committed the offense when the victim was drunk and unable to give her consent.
Oh’s lawyer Chu Hua Yi, who was assigned under Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, said in mitigation that Oh had a difficult childhood and was abused by his father when he was young.
Oh became very reclusive, kept to himself and got bullied in school. He dropped out of the Institute of Technical Education and did not have anyone to talk to about his feelings, until he met the girl, he said.
Mr Chu said Oh felt that his own feelings resonated with the girl and he fell in love with her. He added that when their relationship ended in 2012, Oh used a penknife to cut his palm and suffered permanent disability.
District Judge Michelle Yap said she was heartened to know that Oh has strong family support. She said the offense was very serious, and what the prosecution submitted was fair.
Oh, who was in tears as he was led away to begin his sentence, could have been jailed for up to 20 years and liable to fine or to caning for having sex with a person under 14 years of age.