S'porean man sexually assaults teen during movie while out on bail for molesting 9-year-old girl

The judge ruled out probation or other alternative rehabilitative sentencing.

Jason Fan | October 05, 2019, 11:09 AM

A young man molested and sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl during a movie date.

This incident took place while Mohammad Fazly Zakaria, now 22, was out on bail after following a nine-year-old home and molesting her.

According to CNA, Fazly was sentenced on Oct. 4 to two years and one month in jail.

He had pleaded guilty to four charges, including sexual penetration of a minor under 14, molesting a minor and wrongful restraint.

Three other charges were also taken into consideration.

Molested a nine-year-old after following her home

On Aug. 16, 2018, Fazly was on a bus when he saw the first victim, who was nine, at a bus stop along Bedok North Road.

Fazly alighted from the bus, and walked towards the bus stop where the victim was waiting. He followed the victim onto another bus, and sat next to her, caressing her thigh with his fingers.

Fazly then exposed himself and masturbated in front of her, asking the victim to "play" with his private parts, and telling her that it was "a toy".

Followed her into a lift

The victim alighted from the bus, but Fazly still followed her. Upon reaching the lift lobby of the victim's home, he followed her into the lift.

After the lift door opened one floor below her home, Fazly pulled the victim out of the lift while she tried to resist and screamed for help.

The victim then tried to run away, but Fazly gripped her hand and held her from behind to prevent her from escaping, covering her mouth.

He then tried to carry her to a staircase landing, but released her after she began to cry.

The victim's grandmother called the police the next day, and Fazly was investigated and released on court bail.

Sexually assaulted teenage girlfriend during a movie

While out on bail, Fazly met the second victim, a 13-year-old teenager, and began dating her.

The two met online, and regularly sent each other sexually explicit photos and videos.

The offence took place during a screening of the movie Aquaman at Tampines Mall, on Dec. 31, 2018.

During the movie, the two hugged and kissed each other, and Fazly also molested and sexually assaulted the girl for a period of around 15 minutes.

The two continued to text each other after the movie, where they also discussed other sexual acts.

The 22-year-old then told the victim to "say no" if questioned by the police, and claimed that the police cannot do anything without a confession from the victim.

Fazly assured the victim that if she did as he said, they can be together forever.

The day after the movie, the victim's mother found a packet of cigarettes in the victim's bag, and immediately alerted the victim's step-father.

He checked the victim's handphone, and found her text messages with Fazly.

They insisted that he meet them, and subsequently called the police when he arrived.

"A profoundly corrupting influence"

District Judge Marvin Bay called Fazly a "profoundly corrupting influence", and pointed out that Fazly offended again while on bail.

The judge also noted that Fazly deliberately coached the second victim to lie to police in order to cover his tracks, according to CNA.

Rehabilitation is normally considered for young offenders, but this can be displaced where the crime is heinous, the offender is highly culpable, the harm caused is severe and the offender is recalcitrant.

The judge ruled out probation or other alternative rehabilitative sentencing, stating that him committing the offence while on bail shows a "wholesale contempt for the law."

For sexually penetrating a minor under 14, Fazly could have been jailed for up to 20 years, and fined or caned.

Top image from Pixabay.