Jail for maid who sexually groomed 11-year-old boy in her care

SINGAPORE: A maid who exploited her employer's young son into performing sexual acts on her has been sentenced to 18 months' jail.

The 33-year-old Indian national as well as the victim, who was 11 years old at the time of the first offence, cannot be named due to gag orders.

After a five-day trial, the maid was sentenced last Thursday (Nov 22) after being convicted of four charges under the Children and Young Persons Act, and one charge under the Protection from Harassment Act.

The court heard that the offences took place over a four-month period from January 2016, when the maid was alone at home with the boy. 

She started with kissing and progressed to molesting him and making him molest her, the prosecution said.

This caused much psychological harm to the victim, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Chee Ee Ling, as the boy felt guilty and was upset that his innocence was taken from him at such a young age.

Furthermore, he was "addicted to the sexual acts" and has difficulties controlling his sexual urges, the prosecutor said.

Whenever they argued, the maid would threaten the boy with a fake video she had supposedly recorded of their sexual acts.

The boy's family eventually found out in July 2016, and a police report was made.

The defence asked for 14 months' jail, which the prosecution said was inadequate, arguing instead for two years' jail.

"Rather than care for the victim which was her primary duty, she took calculated steps to sexually groom him into her pliant plaything," said the prosecutor.

The maid could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined up to S$20,000 or both for committing an obscene act with a child.