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Man jailed 22 months for sexually exploiting 13-year-old
By Vanessa Paige Chelvan
POSTED: 06 Oct 2015
SINGAPORE: A 24-year-old unemployed man was on Tuesday (Oct 6) sentenced to 22 months’ jail for sexual offences against a 13-year-old girl.
Muhammad Hafiz Zainuddin faced one count each of sexual exploitation of a child and sexual penetration of a minor. Another three charges, two of exploitation and one of penetration, were taken into consideration.
Hafiz met his victim on Facebook in March this year, when she accepted a friend request from him. He had used the moniker “Ardy Harrison” online and his profile picture was of a Caucasian man.
The two began chatting, and Hafiz persuaded the girl to meet him one evening at Marsiling MRT station. The girl was initially hesitant, the court heard, but went anyway because she was curious to find out what Hafiz looked like. Upon meeting, Hafiz brought the girl to a nearby block of HDB flats at Woodlands Street 13.
When they arrived at the staircase landing of the 6th floor, Hafiz instructed the victim to sit on the steps and perform sexual acts on him. The girl refused at first as she was scared, but Hafiz managed to coax her into it.
After sexually abusing the girl for about half an hour, Hafiz told her he wanted to get some water and left her there.
In court on Tuesday, Hafiz said he would like to “apologise to the victim and her family”, and pleaded for leniency, saying “this shall be my last offence”.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michael Quilindo highlighted to the court that after their initial meeting, Hafiz reached out to the girl again, asking her to meet up a second time. This is an aggravating factor, the DPP said.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng agreed, also noting additional aggravating factors of the victim’s young age and the wide age gap between the victim and accused.
For sexually exploiting a child, Hafiz could have been jailed for up to 5 years and fined S$10,000. For sexual penetration of a minor, he could have faced up to 10 years’ jail and a fine.
- CNA/
By Vanessa Paige Chelvan
POSTED: 06 Oct 2015
SINGAPORE: A 24-year-old unemployed man was on Tuesday (Oct 6) sentenced to 22 months’ jail for sexual offences against a 13-year-old girl.
Muhammad Hafiz Zainuddin faced one count each of sexual exploitation of a child and sexual penetration of a minor. Another three charges, two of exploitation and one of penetration, were taken into consideration.
Hafiz met his victim on Facebook in March this year, when she accepted a friend request from him. He had used the moniker “Ardy Harrison” online and his profile picture was of a Caucasian man.
The two began chatting, and Hafiz persuaded the girl to meet him one evening at Marsiling MRT station. The girl was initially hesitant, the court heard, but went anyway because she was curious to find out what Hafiz looked like. Upon meeting, Hafiz brought the girl to a nearby block of HDB flats at Woodlands Street 13.
When they arrived at the staircase landing of the 6th floor, Hafiz instructed the victim to sit on the steps and perform sexual acts on him. The girl refused at first as she was scared, but Hafiz managed to coax her into it.
After sexually abusing the girl for about half an hour, Hafiz told her he wanted to get some water and left her there.
In court on Tuesday, Hafiz said he would like to “apologise to the victim and her family”, and pleaded for leniency, saying “this shall be my last offence”.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michael Quilindo highlighted to the court that after their initial meeting, Hafiz reached out to the girl again, asking her to meet up a second time. This is an aggravating factor, the DPP said.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng agreed, also noting additional aggravating factors of the victim’s young age and the wide age gap between the victim and accused.
For sexually exploiting a child, Hafiz could have been jailed for up to 5 years and fined S$10,000. For sexual penetration of a minor, he could have faced up to 10 years’ jail and a fine.
- CNA/
