SINGAPORE — For what a district judge called “deceptive and disgraceful” behaviour, a 26-year-old man who sexually exploited several young boys was sentenced to four years and three months’ jail and six strokes of the cane on Tuesday (July 9).

Muhammad Arif Mohamad committed his offences from 2015 to 2017. His five victims, who were aged between 12 and 14 at the time, cannot be named to protect their identities.

In one instance, the delivery assistant told a 13-year-old that he wanted to demonstrate how a doctor performs circumcision. He then pulled the boy’s jeans and underwear down and groped him for several minutes, causing the boy to cry.

It was not stated in court how Arif was eventually apprehended.

He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight charges of committing or attempting to commit obscene acts with a child, and using criminal force to molest a minor. Another 13 similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Before sentencing Arif, District Judge Mathew Joseph lambasted his actions, describing it as an “egregious case” and agreeing with the prosecution that he was a sexual predator.

“These were young victims, young and vulnerable — you were quite devious in the way you lured them with rewards, and this showed also a certain cunning streak in you. Some of these acts were prolonged... Your victims would have been quite terrified,” the judge added.

MOLESTED AT MCDONALD’S

The court heard that Arif got to know a 13-year-old victim, who is now 17, through Facebook sometime in 2014. He also helped the teenager’s mother by delivering products to her customers.

The teen’s parents sometimes asked Arif to look after their son when no one was home, as they trusted him.

On the evening of Feb 13, 2015, the victim’s father asked him to walk Arif to a bus stop. When they were at the void deck of their block of flats, Arif told the victim to remove his jeans and said he wanted to demonstrate how a doctor performs circumcision.

He ignored the victim’s refusal and molested him, then apologised when the victim started crying. The teen did not tell his parents about what happened as he was scared.

Sometime in the middle of 2016, Arif met another boy at a McDonald’s outlet and slid his hand into the 12-year-old’s pants when he was sleeping, touching the boy’s private parts. Alarmed, he pushed Arif’s hands away and moved away.

Court documents showed that in 2016, Arif molested a 14-year-old boy — also at a McDonald’s outlet — by touching him on his chest and attempting to touch his private parts.

TOOK A VICTIM TO HIS HOME

Arif gradually escalated his acts from then on.

He met another 14-year-old boy sometime in December 2016, when the boy was out swimming with three friends. Arif was acquainted with his friends and joined them.

Arif treated him to a McDonald’s meal one day that month at VivoCity mall, before they went to Arif’s home in Marsiling at about 5pm. The boy agreed to go over as he thought he “would be able to have fun watching movies and playing games”, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Zhou Yihong.

While they were alone, Arif took the boy to his room where they talked. He then asked the boy to lie down, hugged him, kissed his face, and touched his crotch.

When the boy grew uncomfortable and asked to play with Arif’s phone, Arif performed a sex act on him. The boy covered his face with his T-shirt after Arif told him not to be scared.

He then took the boy to Woodlands Interchange and gave him S$0.64 to take a bus home.

Later that month, he molested the same boy in a movie theatre by rubbing his private parts for about half an hour. On a separate occasion, he unsuccesfully tried to get the boy to perform a sex act on him by giving him a pack of cigarettes and a phone.

Arif’s last victim also regularly hung out with him at various McDonald’s outlets. They got to know each other through Facebook, and Arif treated the 13-year-old to cigarettes, LAN gaming sessions and food.

Arif touched his private parts on two occasions while they were at East Coast Park in March 2017. One incident happened at about 3am, while another happened at about 10.30pm.

When the boy asked him why he did that, Arif kept silent.

The next month, Arif molested him again in a movie theatre one afternoon.

DPP Zhou noted that the victim whom Arif took advantage of in his home was “subjected to a high level of sexual exploitation”. There was “sustained and prolonged skin-on-skin contact”, she added.

Arif’s lawyer, Mr Srijit Jeshua Shashedaran, asked for a slightly lower sentence of about 45 to 48 months’ jail. He told the court that Arif had fully co-operated with police investigations and was himself sexually assaulted when he was 13 years old.

However, the prosecutor responded that Arif had not been found to suffer from any mental illness.

For committing an obscene act with a child, he could have been jailed up to five years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.

For using criminal force to molest a minor under 14, he could have been jailed up to five years, caned, fined, or any combination of the three.