By Lim Jun Yi

The 14-year-old was seven months pregnant before she suspected it.

Her parents, confronting her, took her to the clinic to confirm it. The baby was born in September last year and put up for adoption.

On March 24, the baby's father, who was also 14 at the time, was placed on a year's supervised probation by the Juvenile Court.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of carnal connection - consensual sex with or between youths aged 12 to 16.

His offences were uncovered four days after the baby boy was born, when the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officer who registered the birth alerted the police.

Had he been 16 or above when they had had sex, he could have been jailed for up to five years and fined up to $10,000 on each charge.

Instead, he was put on probation.

While on probation, he has to stay indoors from 9pm to 6am. He also has to perform 120 hours of community service.

District Judge Wong Li Tein reprimanded the teenage father for his actions, which resulted in 'serious' consequences.

Though there are many cases of young teens having unlawful sex, few end up in a baby being born, she said.

He was also ordered to stop watching pornography and cease all contact with the girl.

Both teens are now in Secondary 4 and cannot be named to protect their identities.

They met in July 2007 through the Internet when they were both 13.

Within a month, the 'casual friends' had become a couple. She started going over to his flat, and they soon had sex for the first time.

The young couple had sex again in December that year, when no one was at home. He ostensibly invited her into his room to use the computer.

They did it again in June last year when she was already six months pregnant.

It was only the following month that the girl suspected she might be expecting, after having missed her period for several months.

But she took no action, as she 'did not know what to do'.

It was also around this time that her parents confronted her. A subsequent check-up showed that she was 28 weeks pregnant.

The teenage mother joins a growing group of under-16 girls in Singapore caught having sex. Last year, 310 such girls were caught engaging in consensual sex - nearly 45 per cent more than in 2007.

This was also a significant increase from the 163 girls found doing so five years ago.

Based on a report by Carolyn Quek in The Straits Times on March 25.

This article was first published in IN, a publication of The Straits Times.