The offender, who cannot be named owing to a gag order, was the 12-year-old girl's new religious teacher in early 2025. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: A teenage religious teacher at a mosque met a 12-year-old girl during lessons he conducted and went on to spend extra time with the child to get to know her better.
The girl’s mother made a complaint with the mosque when she found out about what he had done, and he was removed from his post.
Despite this, the former religious teacher and the girl later entered into a romantic relationship, and she performed a sexual act on him in May.
The 19-year-old offender, who cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Dec 16) to committing an indecent act with a child.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng told the court that the offender became the girl’s new religious teacher in early 2025 and taught three classes to the victim in a group setting involving five to six pupils.
He then obtained all of the pupils’ contact details and created a chat group with them to send lesson notes.
“After one of the religious lessons, (he) spent some extra time with the victim to get to know her better and bought her lunch and some chocolates,” the DPP said.
When she returned home, she told her mother what happened.
The mother then told the mosque that the offender had behaved inappropriately by spending personal time with her daughter beyond the religious classes.
However, the youth and the girl continued to contact each other in secret and soon entered into a romantic relationship.
He met the victim on May 8 and they went to a multi-storey carpark, where he began kissing her.
Although the girl did not want to kiss him at first, she eventually gave in to his advances.
The offender also used one of his hands to grope her chest over her clothing, the court heard.
Five days later, they met again and went to a staircase landing of a Housing Board block of flats.
The offender then asked the child to perform oral sex on him, but she refused to do so.
She eventually performed another sexual act on him.
They subsequently broke up after other parties, who were not identified in court, found out about their relationship.
The girl later told her mother about what she had done with the offender and the woman made a police report on July 13.
On Dec 16, the court called for reports to assess the offender’s suitability for both reformative training and probation.
Young offenders ordered to undergo reformative training are detained in a centre to undergo a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
The youth will be sentenced in January. - The Straits Times/ANN
