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SINGAPORE \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
The girl\u2019s mother made a complaint with the mosque when she found out about what he had done, and he was removed from his post.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old offender, who cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim\u2019s identity, pleaded guilty on Dec 16 to committing an indecent act with a child.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng told the court that the offender became the girl\u2019s new religious teacher in early 2025 and taught three classes to the victim in a group setting involving five to six pupils.<\/p>\n
He then obtained all of the pupils\u2019 contact details and created a chat group with them to send lesson notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 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,\u201d the DPP said.<\/p>\n
When she returned home, she told her mother what happened.<\/p>\n
The mother then told the mosque that the offender had behaved inappropriately by spending personal time with her daughter beyond the religious classes. <\/p>\n
However, the youth and the girl continued to contact each other in secret and soon entered into a romantic relationship.<\/p>\n
He met the victim on May 8 and they went to a multi-storey carpark, where he began kissing her.<\/p>\n
Although the girl did not want to kiss him at first, she eventually gave in to his advances.<\/p>\n
The offender also used one of his hands to grope her chest over her clothing, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Five days later, they met again and went to a staircase landing of a Housing Board block of flats.<\/p>\n
The offender then asked the child to perform oral sex on him, but she refused to do so.<\/p>\n
She eventually performed another sexual act on him.<\/p>\n
They subsequently broke up after other parties, who were not identified in court, found out about their relationship.<\/p>\n
The girl later told her mother about what she had done with the offender and the woman made a police report on July 13.<\/p>\n
On Dec 16, the court called for reports to assess the offender\u2019s suitability for both reformative training and probation.<\/p>\n
Young offenders ordered to undergo\u00a0reformative\u00a0training\u00a0are detained in a centre to undergo a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.<\/p>\n
The youth will be sentenced in January.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n