Man who posed as a teen and sexually assaulted 4 girls gets jail, caning

He preyed on victims on online platforms and pretended to be closer in age to them

- Selina Lum

A 25-year-old man who preyed on young girls on online platforms was sentenced to 14 years and eight months in jail and 24 strokes of the cane on Sept 29 after he admitted to sexually assaulting four victims.

Syed Muhammad Yusri Syed Yasser posed as a teenager to appear closer in age to the victims and asked them to be his girlfriend.

He then overwhelmed the victims with sexual requests, and took them to a secluded location, usually a toilet for people with disabilities in Yishun Park, where he assaulted them, prosecutors told the High Court.

After he was arrested in 2021 for raping a 12-year-old, police investigations revealed his involvement with three other victims.

Yusri was convicted on Aug 25 after he pleaded guilty to charges relating to three of the victims two counts of aggravated statutory rape and one count of sexual penetration of a minor.

Five other charges, one for aggravated statutory rape and four for sexual penetration of a minor, were taken into consideration during sentencing.

He admitted that he messaged an 11-year-old on Instagram in 2020 and asked for her mobile phone number.