Warning: This story contains descriptions of rape. Discretion is advised.

Pretending to be a 16-year-old boy, a middle-aged man befriended a 12-year-old schoolgirl over Instagram. After arranging to meet up with the girl, he had sex with her on three occasions despite knowing she was underage.

This was in 2019, not long after he had been released from prison for sexual offences involving a different 13-year-old girl in 2015.

The repeat sexual offender, Muhammad Hudri Ahmad, who is now 44, pleaded guilty on Oct. 16 (Monday) to three charges of statutory rape.

He was sentenced to 19 years' jail and 18 strokes of the cane for his offences, according to The Straits Times (ST) and Shin Min Daily News.

12 other charges were taken into consideration, including five counts of sexual penetration of a minor and two counts of performing an obscene act with a young person.

Catfishing a primary school girl

Hudri first messaged the victim on Instagram in August 2019.

Over text, he pretended to be a 16-year-old, while the victim revealed that she was 12 and studying in primary school.

He then arranged to meet her from October 2019 onwards, purportedly to befriend her.

The two met four times in total from October 2019 to November 2019. On three of those occasions, Hudri persuaded the victim to engage in sexual acts with him.

The incidents

Their first meeting was at a staircase landing of a Woodlands HDB block.

The prosecution noted the victim was "shocked to see that he looked much older", ST reported.

Hudri and the girl sat on the stairs to chat, before having unprotected sex.

He also had sex with her at her home in Sembawang a week later, after she told him there was nobody else at home.

The last incident took place at a staircase landing of an HDB block in Sembawang in November 2019.

During a session with her school counsellor, the girl revealed what had taken place.

The girl lodged a police report in August 2020, saying that she had been raped.

Following this, Hudri was arrested by the police.

Diagnosed paedophile & repeat offender

Hudri was diagnosed as a paedophile by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in 2020.

The court heard that he is sexually attracted to girls aged 11 to 15, and enjoys watching child pornography.

As such, the IMH report noted that he poses "a danger to young girls", Shin Min reported.

In May 2015, Hudri had also used similar methods to trick a 13-year-old girl into having sex with him.

He contacted her on Instagram, posing as an 18-year-old man, and persuaded her to become his girlfriend.

The day after, the two met and had sex.

For this offence, he was convicted and sentenced to 40 months' jail in 2016.

Offences were premediated: Prosecution

The prosecution sought a sentence of 20 years' jail with 24 strokes of the cane, asserting that the accused's offences were premeditated and highlighted his paedophilic disorder.

The prosecution added that another aggravating factor was that he had sex with the girl despite knowing that she was only 12 years of age.

Hudri was represented by a public defender, Anand Nalachandran, who sought a sentence of 18 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane on the grounds that it was sufficient for deterrence.

Top image from Google Maps  and SPF via  Shin Min Daily News.