Hired to give religious lessons, man, 63, sexually exploited girl, 15, slapped with max 20 years' jail

For four months, between January and April 2022, Kamsari Jumari sexually exploited a 15-year-old girl.

The girl's mother had hired him to provide religious classes, as she frequently ran away from home.

Kamsari was 60 years old at the time of the offence and the victim was a Secondary 4 student.

On Dec. 3, Kamsari, now 63, was sentenced by the High Court to the maximum term of 20 years’ preventive detention.

He pleaded guilty in September to four counts of exploitative sexual penetration of a minor. Another 11 charges for various sexual offences were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Prosecutors highlighted his extensive criminal record, which included convictions for theft, sex crimes, and drug-related offences.

He had also previously been sentenced to eight years’ preventive detention for offences committed against his 11-year-old niece and 12-year-old granddaughter in 2012.

When sentencing Kamsari on Dec. 3, Justice Dedar Singh Gill took into account that he had exploited the victim's trust to satisfy his perverse sexual desires and that his actions were clearly premeditated, leading to the conclusion that he posed a threat to young females, The Straits Times reported.

"The accused is a danger to minor females, particularly those who share a close relationship of trust with him. For their safety, I sentence the accused to 20 years' preventive detention," the judge said.

The start of Kamsari's sentence was backdated to the date of his remand, Apr. 21, 2022.

Sentenced to the maximum term of preventive detention

According to Singapore courts website, preventive detention involves confining an offender for a minimum of 7 years and a maximum of 20 years.

Inmates under preventive detention are not eligible for the usual one-third sentence reduction for "good conduct and behaviour" under the Conditional Remission System.

However, they may be considered for release on license after serving about two-thirds or five-sixths of their sentence as stated in the Criminal Procedure Code.

If released on license, they must adhere to specific conditions, and failure to comply will result in re-imprisonment.

Kamsari will be 80 years old when released, if he serves the full sentence.

Victim's mother hired offender to be a religious teacher for children

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Kamsari first became acquainted with the victim’s mother in late 2021 as they were both food delivery riders.

When the victim ran away from home in January 2022, her mother lodged a police report, also seeking Kamsari's assistance to keep a lookout for the victim.

A few days later, the victim's mother informed Kamsari that the police had brought the victim back home and confided in him that her daughter frequently ran away from home.

In response, Kamsari suggested that the victim attend his religious classes at his residence, something the victim's mother had learned during previous conversations with him.

After discussing with the victim's father, the victim's mother engaged Kamsari to provide religious lessons to the victim and her three younger siblings.

The victim's mother paid the Kamsari approximately $500 for the children's attendance from January to April 2022. The classes were held every Monday and Friday from 8pm to 10pm at his flat.

Kamsari was not registered as a religious teacher under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme, and the victim's mother was aware of this when she hired him, CNA reported, citing his defence lawyer.

Teacher developed attraction to victim during lessons

The victim and her siblings began attending religious classes at Kamsari's flat sometime between January and February 2022.

Kamsari developed a sexual attraction to the victim.

While the victim’s siblings were watching a television show in the living room, Kamsari called the victim into a bedroom, away from the others, for a "counselling session".

He then initiated a sexually explicit conversation with the victim and showed her a pornographic video on his mobile phone.

Shortly after this incident, Kamsari began to engage in more sexually explicit conversations with the victim.

During another religious lesson, he repeated the act of showing her a pornographic video, this time sliding his hand under the victim’s skirt and touching her private parts despite the victim’s discomfort.

Kamsari instructed the victim not to tell anyone about the incident. The victim complied, believing she was "making a mistake" and fearing punishment from her father.

Offender manipulated the girl into increasingly intrusive sexual acts

Court documents also detailed an incident sometime between January and February 2022 where Kamsari again called the victim into the bedroom while her siblings were watching television.

This time, he instructed her to perform various sex acts after showing her a pornographic video and touching her private parts.

He also invited her to his flat on Feb. 21, 2022 after her lessons ended and engaged in penetrative sex acts.

Then, in March 2022, the victim ran away from home again and stopped attending the religious classes conducted by Kamsari.

A month later, around Apr. 13, 2022, the victim's mother informed Kamsari that the victim had returned home. The teacher expressed concern for the victim and, at his request, the victim's mother gave him her daughter's mobile number, hoping that Kamsari would offer her counselling and guidance.

The following day, Kamsari contacted the victim on the Telegram app while she was at school, telling her that he missed her. He then asked the victim to meet him at a void deck later that day. The victim accepted his invitation.

He also confirmed with the victim that her mother would not be checking her messages. He suggested using Telegram to communicate, as it was a "more private" platform.

Kamsari was aware that the Telegram app allowed users to delete messages unilaterally, and had the intention to prevent others from seeing his conversations with the victim if caught. Before his arrest, the accused had deleted his messages.

The victim, still in her school uniform, met Kamsari and he took her to a flat that belonged to a volunteer from a charity that had been assisting him.

Kamsari had been allowed to stay in the volunteer's flat temporarily in 2021, but he never returned the keys, and continued to access the flat without the volunteer's knowledge or consent.

Kamsari knew that the room would be unoccupied and that he would be alone with her.

The victim again engaged in penetrative sex acts with him, acting on his instructions.

Victim's mother discovered the sexual exploitation

On Apr. 17, 2022, the victim’s mother conducted a random check on the contents of the victim’s mobile phone.

She was shocked to discover explicit Telegram messages between the religious teacher and the victim.

In the messages, the accused had, among other things, asked the victim to do a "project" together, which involved both of them pleasuring themselves while on a video call.

The victim’s mother confronted her daughter, who then disclosed that the accused had sexually violated her during religious classes. Later that afternoon, the victim’s mother took her to the police station, where a report was filed against Kamsari.

He was subsequently arrested on Apr. 19, 2022.

Top image from Canva