Despite being turned down multiple times, a 22-year-old man — who had been released months prior from reformative training for a previous sex offence — continued asking a 13-year-old girl if she would have sex with him.

She eventually acceded to his request and they had intercourse at the staircase landing of a multistorey car park.

On Jan. 10, Gil Dominic Barbosa Rojas, now 24, was sentenced to four years and 11 months' jail as well as two strokes of the cane, according to CNA.

District Judge Marvin Bay was quoted by CNA as saying that the incident had left the now 14-year-old girl with "significant psychological and emotional scars".

Persistent pressure

According to court documents seen by Mothership, she had met Rojas — a permanent resident in Singapore — on a live-streaming app on March 25, 2018.

Rojas asked for her phone number and they began texting each other, he asked her to meet him later that day in his neighbourhood at about 1:35pm.

In-person, Rojas asked the 13-year-old secondary school student about her relationship history and if she had any prior sexual experiences.

She told him that she had not had sex before.

Court documents show that Rojas then began asking the girl if she would like to try having sex with him.

However, she was not willing and kept quiet.

He then brought her to the staircase landing of a multistorey carpark, where he began trying to persuade the girl to have sex with him, telling her that it would only be "for a while" and that she would "enjoy it".

Despite initially rejecting his overtures, the girl eventually agreed to have sex with Rojas.

According to court documents, Rojas penetrated her without a condom while she laid on the floor of the staircase landing.

Subsequent regret

Rojas told the girl not to tell anyone that they had sex, as he had previously been incarcerated for underaged sex.

He then asked her to be his girlfriend before they left the multistorey around 5:23pm.

The girl subsequently regretted her decision and blocked Rojas on all the social media platforms that they had communicated on.

About two months after the incident, the girl confided in her mother who made a police report, according to CNA.

Dealt with strongly

In her sentencing submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Chee Ee Ling asked for Rojas to be sentenced to at least five years' imprisonment and two strokes of the cane.

She noted that Rojas had committed similar offences in the past and had only been released from reformative training four months prior to his latest offence.

CNA reported that Rojas' lawyer, Ashwin Ganapathy, did not object to the prosecution's requested sentence.

He did, however, ask for the five weeks that Rojas was remanded for psychiatric evaluation to be taken into account.

"Ultimately my client is sorry for what he's done. He pleaded guilty and saved the court time, and saved the victim the trauma of testifying," said the defence lawyer according to CNA.

In meting out the sentence, the judge noted that the girl had — since the incident — been seen twice in IMH's emergency room after attempting suicide and self-harm.

Bay also referenced the girl's admission that she regretted "having sex with strangers".

"I find Rojas' persistent badgering for the victim to give in to his sexual demands and the fact that he took her to a secluded carpark staircase landing to continue his campaign of relentless persuasion until she bent to his will to be especially aggravating," said Bay according to CNA.

By sentencing Rojas to four years and 11 months' jail as well as two strokes of the cane, Bay indicated that a signal needed to be sent, to show that sexual offenders who prey on the young must and will be dealt with strongly.

For sexual penetration of a minor under 14, Rojas could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.

Top image by Andrew Koay