S'pore's public prosecutor not appealing against Joshua Robinson's 4-year jail sentence

The Attorney-General’s Chambers got him to plead guilty which spared the victims from testifying in court.

Belmont Lay | March 08, 2017, 02:34 PM

Singapore's public prosecutor has decided it will not be appealing against the sentence imposed on Joshua Robinson, the 39-year-old American expatriate in Singapore who has been jailed four years for having sex with two 15-year-old girls and showing an obscene film to a six-year-old girl, among other offences.

In a statement on Wednesday, March 8, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said the offences he was charged with did not allow the court to impose caning.

These are the details of Robinson's charges:

joshua-robinson-charge-sheet

The AGC also said that his three young victims were spared the ordeal of having to testify and be cross-examined in court by getting Robinson to plead guilty instead of claim trial.

The AGC also explained Robinson could not be caned as the crimes he was charged with did not provide for caning.

Robinson could not have been charged with rape, statutory rape or outrage of modesty, and be subject to caning, as statutory rape only applies to victims who have not turned 14, which was not the case in Robinson’s offences.

An offence of rape could also not be pressed against Robinson because both girls had consented to these sexual acts.

The AGC added the most serious offence that Robinson had committed was sexual penetration of a minor under 16 years old, and that too did not provide for caning.

It had asked for four to five years’ jail to be imposed, after taking into account these factors.

The AGC also said: “In discharging our duties, we do not differentiate between Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans.”

The AGC said that it would be discussing with the Ministry of Law if the relevant legislation should be reviewed to enhance sentencing for some of the offences.

As of Wednesday afternoon, an online petition calling for a harsher sentence to be imposed on him has gathered more than 27,000 signatures.

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