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He stole phone, cash, ez-link cards - & a kiss
Girl, 14, shocked to find teen burglar kissing her as she sleeps
By Amanda Yong
August 14, 2009
PICTURE ILLUSTRATION
THE teenage burglar stole more than he intended after breaking into a flat.
Apart from stealing cash and other valuables, Teo Shou Ren, 17, also stole a kiss from a young girl who was sleeping with her mother in a bedroom.
For that, Teo ended up facing a charge of outraging the modesty of a female, to which he pleaded guilty.
The youth, who also pleaded guilty to one count of housebreaking by night to commit theft and one count of shop theft, was sentenced on 13 Jul to reformative training.
Five other charges of shop theft committed with various accomplices were taken into consideration.
These were related to Teo's shoplifting of six shirts worth $636 from Marks & Spencer - together with three friends who acted as look-outs - on 15Oct.
At about 4.40am on 17 Jan this year, Teo and his 15-year-old accomplice broke into the flat.
Teo, the smaller of the two, climbed on a chair and squeezed through a window to get into the bedroom where the girl, 14, and her mother were asleep.
After grabbing two wallets, a handphone, an adult ez-link card, a student ez-link card and $322 in cash, Teo noticed the girl.
He knelt down beside the bed and planted a kiss on the girl's lips. Waking up in shock, she roused her mother. But by then, Teo and his accomplice had fled.
The teenagers were arrested three days later.
District Judge May Mesenas wrote in her judgment that Teo had not only stolen items from the bedroom, but 'had the audacity to kiss the victim's daughter while she was sleeping'.
Teo told his probation officer that he kissed the girl as he 'noticed her sweet face and was sexually aroused'.
But he also told a Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) psychologist, Ms Tsao, that he knelt down to apologise to the girl and kissed her on the lips as he was 'sorry' for stealing her belongings.
Ms Tsao assessed that Teo's sexual offence was 'a reflection of his impulsivity and increasing seriousness of his criminal behaviours'.
His risk of sexual re-offending was assessed to be moderate, given that he had no prior record, she noted.
Nonetheless, Teo's attempt to 'downplay or justify his actions' showed he was clearly 'not contrite for his sexual offending behaviour', Judge Mesenas wrote.
She felt that Teo and his accomplice were 'equally culpable' with regard to the housebreaking offence as both 'shared the spoils of the loot'.
Only the student ez-link card and the handphone were recovered by the police.
As for the shop theft, the investigating officer had indicated in the probation report that Teo was 'the principal offender... and was 'influential over his accomplices' who were fearful of him', the judge noted.
'Misguided'
In his written mitigation, Teo's lawyer, Mr Ratankumar Rai, said that Teo was 'misguided, puerile and was under the influence' of his accomplices when he committed the offences.
Mr Rai urged the court to consider placing Teo on probation.
He said Teo 'had gained some insight into his offending behaviour' during his three weeks in the Queenstown Remand Prison.
In a handwritten note submitted to the court, Teo said he had learnt his lesson and asked for one last chance to remain with his family and help his mother in her food stall 'as business was poor and they were unable to employ any workers'.
But the prosecution called for reformative training as Teo had been assessed to be unsuitable for probation.
High risk of re-offending
The psychologist assessed that Teo's risk of general re-offending was high.
Teo also committed the first offence of shoplifting only six months after he had completed an 18-month probation for a previous offence of rioting.
The judge noted that Teo 'evidently did not internalise the positive values (during probation) despite having attended the rehabilitative programmes targeted at his risk issues'.
Although his parents, who run a food stall, had advised him to adopt a positive attitude towards school, Teo 'was unable to sustain any form of good progress'.
This resulted in his failing the N levels last December. He enrolled in a private school to retake the Nlevels in January, but attended only one session and did not show much interest in pursuing his studies.
The judge was also unconvinced that Teo was 'truly sincere in wanting to help his parents at their food stall as he did not even work there any time this year'.
She concluded that reformative training would be more appropriate 'to give effect to the dominant principle of rehabilitation, which is also balanced against the need for deterrence'.
Teo would be able to undergo a specialised treatment programme 'to address his criminal thinking and equip him with pro-social thinking and life skills necessary to reduce his risk of re-offending'.
Teo, who is currently serving his sentence, filed an appeal on 16 Jun.
For housebreaking by night to commit theft, he could have been jailed for 14 years.
For outraging the modesty of a female, he could have been jailed for two years, fined and caned. For shop theft, he could have been fined and jailed for seven years.
He stole phone, cash, ez-link cards - & a kiss
Girl, 14, shocked to find teen burglar kissing her as she sleeps
By Amanda Yong
August 14, 2009
PICTURE ILLUSTRATION
THE teenage burglar stole more than he intended after breaking into a flat.
Apart from stealing cash and other valuables, Teo Shou Ren, 17, also stole a kiss from a young girl who was sleeping with her mother in a bedroom.
For that, Teo ended up facing a charge of outraging the modesty of a female, to which he pleaded guilty.
The youth, who also pleaded guilty to one count of housebreaking by night to commit theft and one count of shop theft, was sentenced on 13 Jul to reformative training.
Five other charges of shop theft committed with various accomplices were taken into consideration.
These were related to Teo's shoplifting of six shirts worth $636 from Marks & Spencer - together with three friends who acted as look-outs - on 15Oct.
At about 4.40am on 17 Jan this year, Teo and his 15-year-old accomplice broke into the flat.
Teo, the smaller of the two, climbed on a chair and squeezed through a window to get into the bedroom where the girl, 14, and her mother were asleep.
After grabbing two wallets, a handphone, an adult ez-link card, a student ez-link card and $322 in cash, Teo noticed the girl.
He knelt down beside the bed and planted a kiss on the girl's lips. Waking up in shock, she roused her mother. But by then, Teo and his accomplice had fled.
The teenagers were arrested three days later.
District Judge May Mesenas wrote in her judgment that Teo had not only stolen items from the bedroom, but 'had the audacity to kiss the victim's daughter while she was sleeping'.
Teo told his probation officer that he kissed the girl as he 'noticed her sweet face and was sexually aroused'.
But he also told a Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) psychologist, Ms Tsao, that he knelt down to apologise to the girl and kissed her on the lips as he was 'sorry' for stealing her belongings.
Ms Tsao assessed that Teo's sexual offence was 'a reflection of his impulsivity and increasing seriousness of his criminal behaviours'.
His risk of sexual re-offending was assessed to be moderate, given that he had no prior record, she noted.
Nonetheless, Teo's attempt to 'downplay or justify his actions' showed he was clearly 'not contrite for his sexual offending behaviour', Judge Mesenas wrote.
She felt that Teo and his accomplice were 'equally culpable' with regard to the housebreaking offence as both 'shared the spoils of the loot'.
Only the student ez-link card and the handphone were recovered by the police.
As for the shop theft, the investigating officer had indicated in the probation report that Teo was 'the principal offender... and was 'influential over his accomplices' who were fearful of him', the judge noted.
'Misguided'
In his written mitigation, Teo's lawyer, Mr Ratankumar Rai, said that Teo was 'misguided, puerile and was under the influence' of his accomplices when he committed the offences.
Mr Rai urged the court to consider placing Teo on probation.
He said Teo 'had gained some insight into his offending behaviour' during his three weeks in the Queenstown Remand Prison.
In a handwritten note submitted to the court, Teo said he had learnt his lesson and asked for one last chance to remain with his family and help his mother in her food stall 'as business was poor and they were unable to employ any workers'.
But the prosecution called for reformative training as Teo had been assessed to be unsuitable for probation.
High risk of re-offending
The psychologist assessed that Teo's risk of general re-offending was high.
Teo also committed the first offence of shoplifting only six months after he had completed an 18-month probation for a previous offence of rioting.
The judge noted that Teo 'evidently did not internalise the positive values (during probation) despite having attended the rehabilitative programmes targeted at his risk issues'.
Although his parents, who run a food stall, had advised him to adopt a positive attitude towards school, Teo 'was unable to sustain any form of good progress'.
This resulted in his failing the N levels last December. He enrolled in a private school to retake the Nlevels in January, but attended only one session and did not show much interest in pursuing his studies.
The judge was also unconvinced that Teo was 'truly sincere in wanting to help his parents at their food stall as he did not even work there any time this year'.
She concluded that reformative training would be more appropriate 'to give effect to the dominant principle of rehabilitation, which is also balanced against the need for deterrence'.
Teo would be able to undergo a specialised treatment programme 'to address his criminal thinking and equip him with pro-social thinking and life skills necessary to reduce his risk of re-offending'.
Teo, who is currently serving his sentence, filed an appeal on 16 Jun.
For housebreaking by night to commit theft, he could have been jailed for 14 years.
For outraging the modesty of a female, he could have been jailed for two years, fined and caned. For shop theft, he could have been fined and jailed for seven years.
