Youth worker sexually abused 15-year-old former resident of care home, gets jail

In mitigation, the man claimed that he was "also a victim" and had been "gaslighted" and led on by the girl.

A view of the State Courts building in Singapore. (Photo: CNA/Ili Mansor)

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SINGAPORE: A man who worked at a home for children and youth in need of protection sexually abused a 15-year-old girl who had previously stayed there. The pair began a romantic relationship after she left the home.

In mitigation, the man said that he was also a victim and claimed that he was "gaslighted" by the victim, who led him on.

The 31-year-old Singaporean man, who was not represented by a lawyer, was sentenced on Thursday (Oct 29) to two-and-a-half years' jail.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual penetration of a minor. Another five charges were taken into consideration.

He cannot be named due to a court order protecting the victim's identity, which covers his name and the name of the home where the girl stayed.

The man was 27 years old at the time of the offence and worked in an Interim Placement and Assessment Centre overseeing male residents. He had joined the centre as a youth worker in April 2021.

An Interim Placement and Assessment Centre is a residential facility providing temporary care for children and youth under the Ministry of Social and Family Development's Child Protective Service.

The victim was 15 and was placed in the centre because of a report of family violence, where she was a victim.

The pair knew each other at the centre, although the man's duties did not formally involve her.

They interacted when the male and female residents played games together, with staff members involved.

In February 2022, the victim was moved to another home. She wrote farewell cards to staff members at the centre, including the offender.

In her note to him, she included her contact details and gave him the note personally because she had a crush on him, the court heard.

The offender then contacted her in March 2022 and they began chatting regularly. This was despite the man knowing that he should not contact a resident or former resident of the centre.

In April 2022, the pair met in person. The man, who had a second job as a private-hire driver with Grab, picked up the girl from school and drove her to a car park where they talked and held hands.

He asked her to be his girlfriend and she agreed. After this, they met more often, with the man occasionally molesting the girl.

He also took her to his home where he performed a sex act on her.

In May 2022, he also asked the girl to engage in a sex act with him in a car. Although she did not really want to do so, she agreed because she felt that she loved him, the prosecution said.

The couple had sex at the man's house on May 25, 2022.

The offences came to light when a staff member at the home noticed the girl wearing an army administrative T-shirt that did not belong to her.

On questioning, she eventually admitted that she was in a relationship with the offender, who worked at the place where she was previously housed.

The man came to know of the allegations and resigned.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng sought 30 to 36 months' jail, saying that the man had taken advantage of the victim's crush on him and pressured her into various sex acts.

In mitigation, the man said that he had been "having a difficult time in this relationship".

"I think I was being manipulated most of the time," he added. "I was constantly being gaslighted."

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that causes someone to question their own understanding of events.

The man said that he felt pressured to take the lead in the relationship, while interpreting the victim's behaviour as cues about what she wanted.

He also claimed that in the first few weeks of their relationship, she initiated sexual conversations and "dirty talks". He felt that he was "constantly being led" because "this kind of topics means we are trying to lead somewhere".

He said he slowly gave in and tried to be "the cool boyfriend".

"Even during the intercourse itself, I wasn't even confident in doing the intercourse," he said.

The man said he felt like he was also a victim and had been very hurt.

"During the entire relationship, I was constantly buying things for her," he added.

"And sometimes, she didn't reply me, she played games with her own friend, so I got a lot of psychological trauma as well."

Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng then asked the offender about a part of the statement of facts where he made the victim perform a sex act.

The man acknowledged this, but said that the victim was always boasting about her tongue piercing and how it felt.

"I was saying like, since you said, why not I just accept," he added.

In response, Mr Ng from the prosecution said that the offender was essentially blaming the victim for his own conduct.

"Taking into consideration that he was 12 years older than the victim, the victim was still young and impressionable, that is precisely why the law gives protection to persons under 16," Mr Ng added.

"We accept that they were in a romantic relationship, but it is entirely inappropriate that they were in a romantic relationship in the first place."

Judge Lee said the offender knew that the victim was a vulnerable young person and, as a mature adult, should not have contacted the victim and initiated a romantic relationship that eventually became sexual.

She agreed that the man's mitigation showed a lack of remorse and insight into his offending.

For sexual penetration of a minor, he could have been jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.

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该男子辩称自己“也是受害者”，并被女孩“精神操控”和引诱。

新加坡国家法院大楼一景。（图片：CNA/Ili Mansor）

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新加坡：一名曾在儿童和青少年保护中心工作的男子性侵了一名曾入住该中心的15岁女孩。女孩离开中心后，两人发展出恋爱关系。

该男子辩称自己也是受害者，并声称自己被受害者“煤气灯效应”所操控，受害者引诱了他。

这名 31 岁的新加坡男子没有律师代表，于周四（10 月 29 日）被判处两年半监禁。

他承认了三项性侵未成年人的指控。另有五项指控被纳入考虑范围。

由于法院下令保护受害者的身份，因此不能透露他的姓名，该命令涵盖了他的姓名以及女孩居住的房屋名称。

案发时该男子27岁，在一家临时安置和评估中心工作，负责监管男性居民。他于2021年4月加入该中心担任青年工作者。

临时安置和评估中心是为社会和家庭发展部儿童保护服务部门的儿童和青少年提供临时照护的住宿设施。

受害者年仅 15 岁，因家庭暴力举报而被送往该中心，她是家庭暴力的受害者。

两人在中心相识，尽管该男子的职责与她没有正式的联系。

当男女居民一起玩游戏，工作人员也参与其中时，他们之间就会有互动。

2022年2月，受害者被转移到另一处住所。她给中心的员工，包括施暴者，写了告别卡。

法庭获悉，她在给男方的纸条中留下了自己的联系方式，并亲自将纸条交给了他，因为她暗恋他。

随后，这名罪犯于2022年3月联系了她，两人开始定期聊天。尽管他明知自己不应该联系该中心的住户或前住户，但他仍然这样做了。

2022年4月，两人见面了。这名男子在Grab公司兼职做网约车司机，他从学校接了女孩，然后开车带她到停车场，两人在那里聊天、牵手。

他向她表白，她同意了。之后，他们见面更加频繁，男子偶尔会对女孩进行性骚扰。

他还把她带回家，并对她实施了性行为。

2022年5月，他还要求这名女孩在车里与他发生性行为。检方称，尽管女孩并不情愿，但她因为爱他而同意了。

2022年5月25日，这对男女在男方家中发生了性关系。

这些违法行为之所以曝光，是因为该机构的一名工作人员注意到这名女孩穿着一件不属于她的军队行政T恤。

经审问，她最终承认自己与该罪犯有恋爱关系，而该罪犯在她之前居住的地方工作。

该男子得知指控后辞职了。

副检察官 Yohanes Ng 要求判处该男子 30 至 36 个月监禁，称该男子利用受害者对他的迷恋，胁迫她进行各种性行为。

该男子辩称，他在这段感情关系中“遇到了困难”，以此减轻罪责。

“我觉得我大部分时间都被人操纵了，”他补充道。“我一直被人精神操控。”

煤气灯效应是一种心理操纵手段，它会使人质疑自己对事件的理解。

该男子表示，他感到有压力要在恋爱关系中占据主导地位，同时将受害者的行为解读为她想要什么的暗示。

他还声称，在他们交往的最初几周，她主动发起性话题和“污言秽语”。他感觉自己“总是被牵着鼻子走”，因为“这种话题意味着我们想往某个方向发展”。

他说他慢慢地妥协了，努力做一个“酷酷的男朋友”。

“即使在性交过程中，我也没有信心完成性交，”他说。

该男子表示，他觉得自己也是受害者，受到了很大的伤害。

“在交往期间，我一直都在给她买东西，”他补充道。

“有时候，她不回我消息，而是和她自己的朋友玩游戏，这让我受到了很大的心理创伤。”

首席地方法官李立成随后询问被告关于事实陈述中他强迫受害者进行性行为的部分。

该男子承认了这一点，但表示受害者总是吹嘘她的舌钉以及佩戴舌钉的感觉。

“我的意思是，既然你这么说了，那我为什么不接受呢？”他补充道。

对此，控方律师吴先生表示，被告实际上是在将自己的行为归咎于受害者。

“考虑到他比受害者大12岁，而受害者当时还很年轻，容易受影响，这正是法律保护16岁以下人士的原因，”吴先生补充道。

“我们承认他们之间存在恋爱关系，但他们一开始就不应该存在恋爱关系。”

李法官表示，被告明知受害者是弱势青少年，作为一个成熟的成年人，不应该与受害者联系并开始一段最终发展成性关系的恋爱关系。

她认为该男子的辩解表明他缺乏悔意，也没有对自己的犯罪行为进行深刻的反思。

对于性侵未成年人，他可能被判处最高 10 年监禁或罚款，或两者并罚。

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