SINGAPORE – Every day, over three years, an 11-year-old boy watched pornography and thought these interactions between men and women were normal.

In 2022, when he was 14, he filmed his female classmates in school without their consent and was arrested for criminal trespassing and voyeurism.

After years of therapy, the boy, now 17, is coping well with the support of his family and understands how to express his feelings in healthier and more appropriate ways, said his counsellor.

The boy’s experience of objectifying girls after being exposed to pornography over long periods was not unique.

Being exposed to such material online was one reason for young people aged 19 and below committing sex offences, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 7.

The police said more than 460 young people in this age group were arrested for sexual crimes in 2024, with possible reasons including early exposure to pornography and the teens’ inability to manage sexual urges.

The 2024 figure was comparable to that in 2023, which saw more than 470 in the same age range nabbed for such offences.

The arrests in 2023 were a 30 per cent rise from 2022. The police did not provide the exact number of arrests that year.

Among the young people arrested in 2024, sexual penetration of minors was the most common offence, said the police. In most cases, the victims knew the culprits.

Citing the boy’s case, Mr Gopal Mahey, senior counsellor at the Centre for Psychotherapy, said what stood out was how little awareness the boy had about the impact of his actions on others.

He added: “He wasn’t trying to cause harm in a calculated way. Instead, he was re-enacting what he had been repeatedly exposed to online, as no one had spoken to him meaningfully about boundaries, consent or respect.”

With rising concerns of sexual offending in youth in 2023 and 2024, MHA and the Ministry of Education (MOE) launched comprehensive resource guides in November 2024.

These were to help school and community counsellors identify inappropriate sexual behaviours displayed by children and young people aged seven to 19.

MHA said a guide for early identification and intervention called “DetACT Early” provides age-appropriate guidelines for professionals to refer to when identifying ...