SINGAPORE – A 60-year-old recalcitrant sexual predator who spent one-third of his adult life in prison was sentenced on Nov 25 to 15 years’ preventive detention, his fourth incarceration for preying on children.
In September 2023, less than three years after his last release from prison in March 2021, Terence Thaver molested an eight-year-old boy he had befriended over a game of chess.
pleaded guilty on Aug 11
to a charge of outrage of modesty relating to the boy, as well as two charges of unnatural sex for offences committed in 2007 against another victim, who was then nine years old.
Under preventive detention, recalcitrant offenders are incarcerated for up to 20 years for the protection of the public and are not automatically entitled to the usual one-third remission of their sentences.
Instead, such inmates can be eligible for release on licence, meaning they have to comply with specified conditions, after serving two-thirds or five-sixths of their sentences.
After earlier calling for a report to assess Thaver’s suitability for preventive detention, High Court Judge Valerie Thean said on Nov 25 she was satisfied that it was warranted for the protection of the public.
The fact that he was able to remain crime-free for only 30 months since his last incarceration is cause for concern, she said.
