Question 

Ray is a 15-year-old Singaporean male youth offender who was first caught for upskirt offences when he was 13 years old. At that time, he was let off with a police warning.

Based on previous file information, it was found that Ray had lost his biological father who passed away in a road traffic accident when Ray was 7 years old. He was reportedly close to his father and enjoyed spending time with him. From age 9 to 10, Ray had experienced sexual abuse by his maternal uncle who lived with his family back then. His uncle would watch Ray shower and take nude videos and photos of him. Ray was subsequently placed in foster care for a year for his safety and protection. He currently lives with his mother and younger brother.

The lack of structure, supervision, and guidance was a feature of Ray’s childhood and adolescent years. Ray’s mother struggled to support the household following her husband’s passing. Gaps in caregiving were also evident as Ray shared that there were several occasions when his mother did not return from work and there was no food at home.

As a child, Ray was described to be small-built and shy. School reports indicated that Ray used to be a victim of bullying by his classmates when he was in primary school. Academically, Ray had repeated one year of primary and one year of secondary education and was assessed to be of borderline intellectual functioning. Socially, Ray appeared to be isolated and often spent
time alone. It was also indicated in his file information that Ray has some trauma symptoms and struggles with anxiety.

In terms of sexual behaviours, Ray started viewing upskirt pornography almost daily when he was 10 years old. He also accessed upskirt forums where people circulated upskirt photos and videos. Over time, Ray started to engage in upskirt offending and would post his photos and videos onto the forums. Apart from the sexual arousal from his offending, he also felt a sense of accomplishment whenever his posts received “likes” or praises from other forum members. Even after his first arrest at the age of 13, Ray continued to view upskirt pornography daily and did not stop his offending behaviour. He was never in any romantic or sexual relationship.

Recently, Ray was again arrested by the Singapore police for taking several upskirt videos of his female schoolmates. His offences came to light when a school prefect had spotted Ray with a mobile phone and then using it to upskirt a female student.

a) Based on the above case information, apply your understanding of forensic investigative interviewing and discuss an appropriate approach for interviewing Ray as a suspect in Singapore, highlighting any potential challenges and suggesting measures to overcome them.

b) Analyse the significant psychosocial risk factors from the case study that likely culminated in Ray’s sexual offending behaviour.