A former gang member has been convicted of sexually assaulting three teenagers on a playground slide.
The 50-year-old accused Mustapah Abdullah was convicted by the High Court today (Aug 17) on three counts of sexual assault. Mustapah had claimed trial to the charges and represented himself.
The case of the sexual assault occurred in 2018, and the three victims were aged between 16 and 17 at the time. They lived in the same neighbourhood as the convict. They got to know the convict through a friend’s introduction and often got together to chat.
The three victims later heard rumours that their friend had been sexually assaulted by the accused and began avoiding him. Mustapah was very angry after learning about it and arranged to meet the three victims at the void deck where they often met on the evening of October 17, 2018, and threatened to harass and hurt their family members, and was rude to them.
According to the prosecution, he pulled, slapped and tried to scratch one victim’s eye out, and kicked another victim on his back. Afterwards, the convict asked the victims to take turns meeting him one-on-one at the children’s playground slide near the void deck, where he used the opportunity to sexually assault them. The three victims gave in out of fear. A few days later, one of them told the school counsellor, who called the police after school.
The identities of the victims, aged 16 to 17 during the offences, are protected by gag order. The trial judge also found that apart from displays of physical violence, Mustapah capitalised on the victims’ respect for him as an authority figure with a purportedly violent past. This included deliberately referring to his past involvement in gang fights when confronting the teens.
“Unsurprisingly, the victims were intimidated and felt fearful that further harm would be inflicted upon them or their families if they were to choose not to ‘settle’ the matter with the accused,” said the judge.
The accused will be sentenced next month and faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine, and caning on each count of sexual assault.
The post Former gangster convicted of sexually assaulting three teens at playground slide appeared first on The Independent News.