A Singaporean soldier who was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor twice got a mere 10-month jail sentence following a decision handed by a local court on Monday.
The defendant, a 44-year-old army warrant officer named Teo Chye Siong, was accused of engaging in sexual activities with an underage girl back in 2014. Siong earlier pleaded guilty to the two counts of sexual penetration of a minor filed against him, reported the Straits Times. He was immediately suspended from the Singapore Armed Forces.
Court documents revealed that the Siong befriended the then 14-year-old victim on Facebook in May 2014.
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While knowing he was conversing with a minor, he reportedly injected sexual content into the messages he sent her.
The former regimental sergeant major with the 6th Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment, would later arrange for a meeting with the young girl. They reportedly met at an open space on the ground floor of the girl’s apartment where the soldier picked her up, and drove her to Changi Beach. While sitting by the beach, the man violated the girl with his finger for at about five minutes.
The Army officer then drove her to Pasir Ris Park, where he asked her to perform a sex act on him inside his car. They engaged in the sexual act for a few minutes.
Kavita Uthrapathy, the Deputy Public Prosecutor assigned to the case, revealed that the offender continued to send lewd messages to the victim on Facebook with the intent of having sex with her in the future. The prosecutor was hoping for a heavier punishment, stating that the soldier’s own children were almost the same age as the victim.
In Singapore, sexual penetration with a minor may incur a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail plus a fine.
