• Muhammad Yusri Aljufri was 19 when he committed the offences
• He met a 14-year-old girl on Instagram and they engaged in sex acts at a staircase landing
• He later met a 13-year-old girl and engaged in sexual activities with her 
• He was caught after the younger girl’s teacher noticed “love bites” on her neck
• Nevertheless, they engaged in sexual activities again and he filmed them without her knowledge

SINGAPORE —Shortly after the police began investigating him for having sex with a 14-year-old girl, Muhammad Yusri Aljufri met another underaged girl online.

He and the girl, then aged 13, engaged in multiple sexual acts at his flat.

A teacher spotted “love bites” on her neck and reported the matter, leading to him being charged in court, but the pair continued with their sexual activities.

Yusri, now 20 years old, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (June 9) to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor. 

Nine other charges, including producing child abuse material and possessing obscene films, will be taken into consideration for sentencing on June 29.

District Judge May Mesenas called for reports to assess if he is suitable for probation or reformative training, which are typically offered to young offenders below 21.

Reformative training, a regimented rehabilitation programme for those who commit relatively serious crimes, is a harsher punishment than probation, which allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.

Both of Yusri’s victims cannot be named due to a court order to protect their identities.

The court heard that when he was 19, he met the first victim, a Secondary 2 student, through social media application Instagram. 

They soon met in person on Nov 17, 2019 at the void deck of a public housing block in Punggol. 

They proceeded to a staircase landing on the 17th floor and had sex after the girl told him that she “wanted to bear his child”, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Samyata Ravindran told the court.

Within a couple of weeks, the girl told her mother that she might be pregnant as her period was late and she had had unprotected sex.

On Dec 16, her mother accompanied her to a polyclinic where she discovered she was not pregnant. Staff there lodged a police report at her mother’s request.

Yusri was called up for investigations on the same day.

OFFENCES AGAINST SECOND VICTIM

This however did not deter Yusri who, a few months later, met the second victim through the anonymous question-and-answer messaging application Tellonym. 

The 13-year-old was studying at a school for persons with special needs.

They turned to communicating on Instagram and the girl expressed “wanting to be his girlfriend almost immediately”, said DPP Samyata.

On WhatsApp, they exchanged messages of a sexual nature with the girl sending Yusri nude videos of herself.

On March 9, 2020, they arranged to meet at Redhill MRT station before going to a nearby block of flats. He gave her a “love bite” there and they engaged in sexual acts.

They then went to his flat and had unprotected sex there.

Two days later, a teacher noticed marks on her neck and told her parents. Yusri then told her to lie to them that they would not have sex anymore.

He was arrested the same day and later charged and remanded in Changi Prison’s Complex Medical Centre for psychiatric evaluation.

The authorities found 1,000 obscene videos on his electronic devices. They also seized his mobile phone and discovered he had sent photos of male genitalia to her over WhatsApp.

He was released from psychiatric evaluation on April 3, but met the girl again on June 19 at her home. They engaged in sexual activities at a staircase landing and he filmed it without her knowledge.

DPP Samyata told the court that he then “quickly abandoned her” as she was “unimportant to him”.

Five days later, the girl told her counsellor about the latest incident, and he was arrested and charged in court again. His bail was revoked and he has been in remand since then.

His mobile phone was seized once more and the authorities found 17 obscene videos in it.

In mitigation, Yusri said that he still wants to study and has yet to complete National Service.

“I understand the need for deterrence… I cannot guarantee or promise I’ll change but I’ll try my best. I understand the offences I committed are very heavy but I ask that the judge… give me an appropriate sentence,” he added.

Adult offenders convicted of sexual penetration of a minor under 16 can be jailed up to 10 years or fined, or receive both penalties.

The maximum jail term is doubled for those convicted of the offence against a minor under 14, and offenders can also be caned.