SINGAPORE – He was a family friend, and a 13-year-old girl trusted him enough to go on a motorcycle ride with him and later agree to sit on his lap near a playground in Sembawang.

The man then molested the girl before taking her back home later that evening in October 2022.

The 52-year-old Indian national, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the girl’s identity, pleaded guilty to a molestation charge and was sentenced to 14 months’ jail on Sept 2.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Suriya Prakash told the court that the man often visited the girl and her mother at their home.

Some time before 7pm on Oct 26, 2022, the mother contacted the man and asked him to bring them dinner.

He turned up at their home that evening and played chess with the victim.

The prosecutor said: “The accused then asked the victim if she wanted to go on a joyride alone with him on his motorcycle. The victim agreed.

“The victim’s mother also consented to the accused bringing the victim on the joyride alone and entrusted the victim in the accused’s custody.”

The man then rode his motorcycle with the girl riding pillion.

They went to a shop at Sembawang Shopping Centre, where he bought her a drawing block holder, a notebook and a sticker pad.

He then asked the girl to accompany him to a nearby beach. She initially declined to do so but gave in when he persuaded her to come along.

They reached a playground near Wak Hassan Drive, and he sat on a bench before asking the girl to sit on his lap. After she complied, the man molested the girl.

Feeling very uncomfortable with his touches, she stood up and asked him to take her home. They arrived back home at around 8.45pm.

Court documents did not disclose what happened next, but the man was later charged in court in 2023.

For molesting a child below 14 years old, an offender can be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned or receive any combination of such punishments.

The man cannot be caned as he is above the age of 50.