SINGAPORE: A 20-year-old man has pleaded guilty on 23 May to performing an obscene act in public after he was caught on a neighbour’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera sexually abusing a cat.
The man, who cannot be named due to a gag order protecting the identity of his bullying victim, admitted to three charges, including assaulting and harassing a 19-year-old classmate with special needs.
Additional charges of voluntarily causing hurt and two counts of theft will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.
The court has ordered probation and reformative training reports to determine his suitability for either sentencing option.
Probation is a rehabilitative sentence that does not result in a criminal record, while reformative training involves a period of detention and results in a criminal conviction.
Obscene Act Against Cat
The incident involving the cat occurred on 8 April 2023 at about 1.50am.
The accused, who lived near the feline and often encountered it, returned home and saw the cat roaming outside the flat.
The cat was known to be allowed to wander freely in and out of its home.
He decided to engage with the cat and found some cat food on a shelf to feed it.
While the cat was eating, the man became sexually aroused and acted on his urges.
After looking around to ensure no one was nearby, he proceeded to sexually abuse the animal, unaware that a CCTV camera had recorded his actions.
When the cat scuttled away, he pursued it, picked it up, and humped it. The cat managed to escape from his grasp.
Undeterred, the accused followed the animal again, attempting to grab its tail, but the cat wriggled free.
The disturbing act came to light when the cat’s owner was shown the CCTV footage by a neighbour.
The footage was then uploaded on social media in an effort to identify the perpetrator.
A police report was lodged on 11 April 2023 by a concerned member of the public, leading to the man’s arrest later that day.
Following the incident, the owner took the cat to a veterinarian, who confirmed that it was unharmed.
However, the owner noticed a change in the cat’s behaviour, stating that it became hesitant to stay outside the flat afterwards.
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Bullying and Harassment
The court also heard details of the accused’s consistent bullying of a fellow course mate, who had mild intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder.
Both were enrolled in the same course in 2022 and attended classes together.
Court documents revealed that the accused persistently targeted the victim both in person and online.
Owing to his larger physical stature, he frequently picked on the victim by verbally abusing, threatening, and even physically assaulting him.
He was also reported to have demanded money and tripped the victim during lessons.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok told the court, “The victim did not dare to stand up to or report the accused for fear of his own safety as the accused had threatened to hurt him if he informed his parents, teachers or anyone else.”
Although some course mates had alerted the school authorities to the bullying, and the accused had been counselled on the matter, the abuse continued.
On 31 March 2022, the accused sent a series of threatening messages through a chat application.
These messages were laced with profanities and threats to harm the victim, including, “kill” him and calling him “ugly”.
He also warned he would “whack” the victim and “break” his face.
The victim kept the messages to himself out of fear, but his father eventually discovered them in 2023 and made a police report.
In another incident on 23 November 2022, the accused physically assaulted the victim during class.
The assault was triggered when the accused saw the victim resting his head on a bag. After following him to the toilet, the accused confronted the victim about it.
When the victim did not respond, he was slapped across the face.
The man has been remanded and will return to court for sentencing on 11 July.
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