Teen sexually preyed on fellow residents at welfare home
He was a resident in a welfare home which was supposed to be a safe haven for at-risk youth.
Instead of behaving himself, the teenager, now 16, sexually penetrated two fellow residents there - both younger boys.
The teen's identity and the name of the welfare home cannot be revealed due to a gag order. Court papers did not mention why he was staying at the home.
Between Sept 1, 2014, and Oct 15 last year, the teen made his first victim, now 13, perform oral sex on him five times and committed obscene acts on him twice.
He targeted his second victim, now 12, late last year. He made the boy perform oral sex once and also committed an obscene act on him.
The teen, whom we shall call "Zac", pleaded guilty in court yesterday to two counts of sexually penetrating a minor and one count of committing an obscene act with a child.
Six other charges for similar offences will be taken into consideration during sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jesintha Veijayaratnam said the first victim, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and borderline IQ, entered the home on Sept 1, 2014.
He was in a toilet one afternoon later that year when Zac called out his name from the shower area.
He did not want to come forward at first but eventually relented as he was afraid Zac would get angry. Zac then asked the boy to perform oral sex on him.
DPP Jesintha said: "(The victim) again declined but eventually agreed out of fear as the accused was persistent and appeared to be angry."
The court heard Zac was just as persistent when he targeted his second victim in their dormitory at around 11.45pm on Oct 31 last year.
While the boy was trying to sleep, Zac repeatedly made noises to attract his attention and pointed at his own private parts.
The victim shook his head when he saw this because he knew Zac wanted him to perform a sexual act.
Zac pressed on until his victim agreed to follow him to the toilet where there were no CCTV cameras.
He made the younger boy perform oral sex on him in one of the cubicles and also asked the latter to touch his private parts.
The home's welfare officers approached the victim when he came out of the toilet as they sensed that something was amiss.
The boy told them about his ordeal and a staff member informed the police on Nov 2 last year.
REFORMATIVE TRAINING
DPP Jesintha urged Principal District Judge Bala Reddy to call for a report to assess Zac's suitability for reformative training.
Those given this sentence have to spend between 18 months and three years in a reformative training centre (RTC) and follow a strict regimen that includes foot drills and counselling.
She said: "The accused had systematically targeted two vulnerable children for his own sexual pleasure.
"While the accused did not use force, he was consistently dogged in persuading the initially reluctant victims to perform the sexual acts."
Zac, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded for leniency and asked the judge to consider probation instead.
Judge Reddy called for both RTC and probation reports. Zac will be back in court on July 26.
For each count of sexually penetrating a minor, he could be jailed up to 10 years and fined.
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