Individuals above Aged of 50 Sentenced for Serious Sexual Offences Against Young Persons Compared to Those under Age 50
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns statistics on individuals over age 50 sentenced for serious sexual offences against young persons versus those under age 50. Mr Pritam Singh inquired about longitudinal trends and whether older individuals are increasingly committing such crimes against minors or relatives. Minister for Home Affairs Mr K Shanmugam stated that long-term data is unavailable, but figures from 2020–2022 recorded 41 offenders over 50 and 186 younger offenders. These figures specifically cover serious offences attracting caning, such as rape and sexual penetration, across the State and High Courts. Furthermore, police arrest data for individuals over 45 indicates no increasing trend, with annual figures remaining stable between 2020 and 2022.
Transcript
9 Mr Pritam Singh asked the Minister for Home Affairs how many individuals above the age of 50 have been sentenced for serious sexual offences against young persons compared to those under the age of 50 over the last five, 10 and 15 years respectively; (b) whether there is a trend of more individuals in their late 40s and above the age of 50 committing serious sexual offences against young persons, including family members and relatives; and (c) if so, whether the reasons behind this increase has been studied.
Mr K Shanmugam: The data for the periods of time which the Member has requested is not readily available.
Based on available data from January 2020 to July 2022, there were 12 male offenders above 50 years old at the time of sentencing who were convicted in the State Courts of serious sexual offences which attracted the punishment of caning, such as rape, sexual assault and sexual penetration of minors. In comparison, there were 86 male offenders aged 50 or younger at the time of sentencing who were convicted of such offences in the State Courts during the same period.
From January 2020 to December 2022, there were 29 male offenders above 50 years old at the time of sentencing who were convicted in the High Court of serious sexual offences which attracted caning, such as rape, sexual assault and sexual penetration of minors. In comparison, there were 100 male offenders aged 50 or younger at the time of sentencing who were convicted of such offences in the High Court during the same period.
On whether there is a trend of more individuals in their late 40s and above the age of 50 committing serious sexual offences against young persons, based on available Police arrest data from January 2020 to November 2022 of the number of persons above the age of 45 at the time of offence, there appears to be no increasing trend: 18 persons in 2020, 15 persons in 2021 and 17 persons in 2022.