Muhammad Arif Mohamad, 26, pleaded guilty to six charges of sexual exploitation of a child or young person and two counts of aggravated molestation. (Photo: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — A man who repeatedly molested five boys aged between 12 and 14 was jailed for four years and three months along with six strokes of the cane on Tuesday (9 July).

Muhammad Arif Mohamad, a 26-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to six charges of sexual exploitation of a child or a young person and two counts of aggravated molestation.

Another 11 charges of sexual exploitation and two counts of molestation were considered in sentencing.

Boy’s parents trusted him

Sometime in 2014, Arif got to know a 13-year-old boy via Facebook. Arif also knew the boy’s parents, who had trusted him to look after the boy when no one was at home.

On 13 February 2015, the boy’s father asked Arif to help walk the boy to a bus stop.

When they were at the void deck of the boy’s home in Clementi at about 11.30pm, Arif told the boy to remove his jeans, “claiming that he wanted to demonstrate how a Malay doctor performs circumcision of the penis,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yihong said.

When the boy refused, Arif forcefully pulled down the boy’s jeans and underwear. The perpetrator then held onto the boy’s testicles and penis for about five to 10 minutes. The victim cried. “The victim did not tell his parents about the incident as he felt scared,” DPP Zhou said.

Two days later, Arif repeated the same act on the same victim at a void deck in Jurong.

Struck sleeping victim

In mid-2016, Arif struck again - this time on a sleeping victim. The serial molester met a 12-year-old boy and his friends at a McDonald’s outlet in Boon Keng. Arif knew a friend of the boy.

The victim was tired and went to take a rest by sitting on a seat outside the fast food outlet, covering his eyes with both hands.

Arif approached the sleeping victim and slid his hand into the latter’s pants from the top. Alarmed, the boy pushed Arif’s hand away.

In December that year, Arif grabbed the boy’s penis at a playground in Ang Mo Kio.

Groped boy at home, in cinema

In early December 2016, Arif met another victim - a 14-year-old boy - when the latter was swimming with three friends aged 13 to 16. Arif was acquainted with the boy’s friends and joined the group. Arif and the victim exchanged phone numbers.

A few days later, Arif treated the boy to a meal at McDonald’s at VivoCity, then invited him to his house. The boy thought they would be watching movies and playing games.

But at his home, Arif asked the boy to lie down, then hugged him, and touched and kissed his face. Arif also touched the boy’s private parts over his jeans.

Feeling uncomfortable, the boy asked to play with Arif’s mobile phone. While playing on the phone, Arif pulled down the victim’s jeans and underwear and masturbated him.

“The victim felt scared and told the accused to stop, and the accused told the victim not to be scared,” said DPP Zhou. “The victim then covered his face with his T-shirt, while the accused continued to masturbate him.”

Arif later sent the victim to the bus interchange and paid for his fare home.

Later that month, Arif invited the boy to watch a movie at a cinema in Orchard Road. Inside a movie theatre, Arif placed his hand into the victim’s pants.

“The victim felt embarrassed as there were girls around, and pushed the accused’s hands away, but the accused kept putting his hands in,” said DPP Zhou. “The accused then rubbed the victim’s penis with skin-to-skin contact, for about 30 minutes.”

The same month, at Arif’s house, the serial molester gave the boy a pack of cigarettes and a phone before asking for oral sex. The boy refused and returned the phone before going home.

On four other occasions, also in December 2016, Arif sexually exploited the boy.

Arif also abused a fourth victim - a 14-year-old boy - in 2016. He touched the victim’s chest on one occasion and tried to touch his penis another time. Both occasions took place at the McDonald’s outlet at Boon Keng.

Exploited victim at parks, on bus

In June 2016, Arif got to know yet another victim - a 13-year-old boy - via Facebook. They hung out at McDonald’s outlets and Arif also treated the boy to LAN gaming, cigarettes and food, the court heard.

In March 2017, Arif and the boy met at East Coast Park. Arif touched the boy’s penis over his pants. He then put his hands into the boy’s pants and touched him further. “The victim asked the accused why he did that, and the accused kept quiet,” DPP Zhou said.

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