Man pleads guilty to getting 15-year-old girl to perform sex act on him after she thanked him for act of kindness
SINGAPORE — When a 15-year-old stumbled in a multi-storey car park, a 50-year-old man helped her up and she thanked him with a can of soft drink. After they chatted for an hour, the man got the girl to perform a sex act on him.
The man, Subramaniam Thaburan Rangasamy, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Jan 9) to one charge of getting the teen, who was under 16 years of age, to perform a sex act on him.
Another charge of attempting to have sexual intercourse with the teenager will be taken into consideration when Subramaniam returns to court on Feb 1 for sentencing.
The name of the victim cannot be published due to a court order to protect her identity.
Before the hearing began, Subramaniam's defence counsel Rajan Supramaniam asked the court to extend the gag order to the accused as he was living in the same area as the victim, which could lead to her identification.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sunil Nair argued that he did not see the need to gag the accused's name as it seems that the request from the defence was to protect his privacy and not that of the victim.
Mr Nair stressed that the purpose of the gag order is to protect the victim.
The request was denied by District Judge Crystal Tan.
THE INCIDENT
On Dec 6 in 2021, the teenager was at home in the late morning and had scheduled a Zoom video session with her school counsellor even though it was the school holidays.
As there were other people at home and she wanted some privacy, she decided to go elsewhere for the session, said DPP Nair.
She left home and walked via a linkway that connected her to the fourth floor of the multi-storey car park.
The court heard that at the time, Subramaniam was on the fourth floor of the car park, smoking and relaxing before he left for the morning.
The teen had walked past Subramaniam, who paid her no mind, as she headed to the fifth floor of the car park staircase for her virtual session with the counsellor.
After the call, the teenager stood up but had lost strength in her leg due to an unexpected cramp.
Despite that, she tried to make her way back but fell along the way and hit the door to the car park staircase.
Subramaniam, who heard a sound, went towards the staircase where he saw the teen on the ground.
He helped her to her feet and walked a few steps with her until the teen's cramp subsided and she was able to walk on her own.
She thanked Subramaniam and went home.
As she was grateful for Subramaniam's help, she decided to go back to the car park to give him a can of chrysanthemum tea, said DPP Nair.
When Subramaniam saw the teen, he asked her to talk with him for a while.
She agreed and the two sat down at the staircase on the fourth floor of the car park.
After talking for about an hour, Subramaniam and the teenager started to get intimate, and were kissing and touching.
Court documents did not disclose what the conversation was about.
The intimacy between the two escalated when Subramaniam got the teenager to perform a sex act.
Subramaniam pulled down her shorts and underwear in an attempt to have sex with her but was unable to do so. This was the subject of the charge that will be taken into consideration.
The two later parted ways and remained in contact through WhatsApp.
Two days later, on Dec 8, the teenager, who was aged 15 years and 10 months at the time of the offence, went to make a police report about the incident as she felt that Subramaniam had taken advantage of her.
'MOMENT OF FOLLY'
Seeking a jail term of between 10 and 12 months, DPP Nair said that the prosecution was not seeking harsher punishment as Subramaniam and the teenager were strangers, and it appeared to be a one-off incident.
Urging the court to consider 10 months' jail, Mr Supramaniam, who represented Subramaniam, said that his client was profoundly remorseful.
"He admits that what he has done is a foolish mistake and lack of judgement on his part, and it was a moment of folly that has led to a lifetime of regret for him," said Mr Supramaniam.
Anyone guilty of performing a sex act on a person below 16 years of age could be jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.
