Man gets jail for sexual act with 14-year-old girl arranged by her male teen acquaintances
Terrance Teo Jian Xiang, 29, pleaded guilty to one charge of sex with a minor aged below 16.
Teo is one of three men charged with sexual offences involving the same underaged girl over a few days in early July 2024.
The other two men – Goh Shao Heng, 24, and Yong Eak Chung, 28 – are set to plead guilty in July.
The identities of the victim and her acquaintances – two 16-year-old boys named A1 and A2 in court documents – are protected by gag order.
The victim and A1 met on Instagram, and A1 and A2 were friends.
The court heard that the victim was living in a girls' home at the time.
"After attending school on Jul 4, 2024, the victim did not return to the home but went to meet A1 and told him that she needed a place to stay," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng.
"A1 told her that he could find a place for her to stay. However, in exchange, the victim would have to provide sexual services for men. The victim agreed as she felt that she had no choice."
A1 introduced the girl to A2, who then advertised sexual services in a Telegram chat group named "Watermelon".
The next day, Teo posted in the chat group that he was looking for a service. He received a response from A1 or A2 within the day, and they arranged for him to buy a sexual service for S$200 (US$155).
Following A1 or A2's instructions, Teo went to the staircase landing of a Housing and Development Board block in Punggol that evening. The victim arrived shortly after Teo.
"The victim asked (Teo) if he was sent by 'the boss', and (Teo) replied yes," said Ms Heng. After telling her what he wanted, Teo scanned a QR code and used PayNow to pay S$200 to an account in A2's name.
Teo did not ask for the victim's name or age, and did not check her NRIC or other identification, added the prosecutor.
The victim set a two-minute alarm on her phone and performed a sexual act on Teo until the timer went off. She then said she had to go, and left.
Teo messaged A1 or A2 asking why the sexual act lasted only two minutes. When asked for a review, he said the service was not provided in full. Their Telegram chat was subsequently deleted.
Teo was arrested on Aug 29, 2024. Court documents did not state how the offence was discovered and how Teo was identified.
The prosecution urged the court to impose eight months' imprisonment. Teo's defence lawyer Zheng Yirong sought not more than five months' jail.
Ms Zheng argued that Teo genuinely believed the victim was of legal age and that "her behaviour supported that belief".
He would not have gone through with the sexual act if he had known the girl was underaged, the lawyer said.
She also argued that the offence was a one-off transaction arranged by someone Teo did not know, and that he did not groom the victim or put pressure on her.
The punishment for sexual assault of a minor is a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine or both penalties.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
7 hours ago
- CNA
Man arrested after glass bottle thrown at bus along Orchard Road
SINGAPORE: A 38-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an incident at Orchard Road, where a glass bottle was thrown at a moving bus over the weekend. Police said on Tuesday (Jul 8) that he was arrested over his alleged involvement in a case of rash act causing hurt. A call for assistance along Orchard Road was received at around 6.50pm on Jul 5. Police said that preliminary investigations found the man had allegedly thrown a glass bottle onto the window of a bus from a pedestrian walkway. The impact caused the window to shatter, injuring a 57-year-old female bus passenger. Police said that the suspect's identity was established through follow-up investigations and he was arrested on Tuesday. "An 18-year-old teenager who was with the man is also assisting with the investigation," they added. The man will be charged in court on Wednesday with rash act causing hurt. The offence of committing a rash act causing hurt carries a jail term of up to a year, a fine of up to S$5,000 (US$3,902), or both. THE INCIDENT The female passenger had been on board bus service 190, which was travelling along Orchard Road at about 6.45pm on Jul 5, according to SMRT Buses deputy managing director Vincent Gay. Following the incident, the bus captain brought the vehicle to a safe stop and checked on the passengers, he said, adding that those affected were safely transferred to another bus to continue their journeys. Photos of the incident posted on social media showed a double-decker bus parked outside The Heeren with a badly cracked window on the upper floor of its left side. A hole could also be seen in the window.
Independent Singapore
9 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
Found: Singaporean man who went missing in Malaysia 2 days after his wedding
FB screengrab/ Lawrence Hi Lo SINGAPORE: On Monday (Jul 7), it was reported by the Malaysian Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily that a Singaporean man had gone missing two days after he got married. Later reports confirmed that he had been found after 15 hours, and his family thanked everyone who endeavoured to help out with the search. Twenty-nine-year-old Caleb Ho Wen Hui, a finance manager, had left the house of his new in-laws early that morning to go for a run, which he had been known to do whenever he was in the area. He and his bride, a Malaysian national, had just had their wedding at Sungai Long, Kuala Lumpur, on Jul 5. At 5:15 a.m, he sent his wife a video message to let her know he was coming home in half an hour, but shortly afterwards, he could no longer be contacted, and his family grew worried, especially since he had been scheduled to go back to Singapore later that day. The Sin Chew Daily report says he had been wearing a grey top, white shorts, and sandals to go on his run. Mr Ho's father-in-law, Lincoln Goh Lin Kin, appealed for help on social media, which others shared as well. His wife and in-laws began to look for Mr Ho, later aided by local authorities. Friends and family came over from Singapore to join the search as well. During the search, a pair of red slippers that belonged to Mr Ho were found behind a fuel station near the main road. Fortunately, at around 8 p.m., the police were able to locate the missing Singaporean. He was confirmed to be safe and sound, according to a follow-up report from Sin Chew Daily. Dr Goh also confirmed that his son-in-law was in a good mental and physical state but declined to say anything further about why Mr Ho had gone missing. Mr Ho and his wife were scheduled to go back to Singapore on Tuesday (Jul 8). 'We would like to express our deepest gratitude for your prayers, support, and efforts in helping us search for Caleb. By the grace of God and with the dedicated assistance of the Bandar Sungai Long police—led by Sgt Zharif and his team—we are overjoyed to share that Caleb has been found safe. 'Our family is truly moved by the kindness and solidarity you've shown us during this challenging time. Your willingness to step forward and help has meant more to us than words can convey.' wrote Dr Goh . /TISG Read also: Kate Tsui, the missing former TVB actress, finally spotted in a Parisian art museum () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
CNA
10 hours ago
- CNA
Man gets jail, fine for evading S$1.1 million in taxes by under-declaring value of imported cars
SINGAPORE: A 32-year-old man was sentenced to 28 months' jail and fined S$4,194,000 (US$3,281,000) for evading S$1,147,298 in taxes, and laundering proceeds of crime, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Customs said in a joint news release on Tuesday (Jul 8). Eric Tan Zhi Hao pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraudulently evading excise duties and Goods and Services Tax (GST) over the under-reporting of the value of imported motor vehicles into Singapore, the release said. He also facilitated the concealment of funds obtained from the criminal conduct and attempted to obstruct the course of justice during investigations. Tan had conspired with three other co-accused persons to under-declare the value of cars imported by parallel importer Lightspeed Performance, to Singapore Customs. Tan used his firm Eagle 9 Automotive as an intermediary to receive funds from car retailers that purchased vehicles imported by a firm called Lightspeed into Singapore, with Lightspeed billing Eagle 9 a partial amount of the actual value of the vehicles. To make up for the shortfall that was not declared to Singapore Customs, Eagle 9 would make separate transfers labelled as 'warranty payments' to two overseas companies, K3 Strategic and K3 Strategic Limited. As a result of the under-declaration scheme, which took place between 2022 and 2023, Lightspeed evaded GST and excise duty totalling about S$3.53 million over the importing of 485 motor vehicles, authorities said. Of the 485 vehicles, Eagle 9 was used in the under-declaration of 190 cars, resulting in excise duty and GST of S$723,141.32 and S$424,156.19 being evaded. Investigations showed that Tan was aware that the 'warranty payments' were false, and that they were created for Lightspeed to under-declare the true value of the imported vehicles to Singapore Customs. In total, Tan received at least S$188,416 for his participation in the under-declaration scheme. Besides tax evasion, Tan was also found to have been involved in the laundering of another's criminal proceeds and the obstruction of justice. After one of the co-accused was arrested by Singapore Customs around June 2023, Tan and the other two co-accused agreed to delete WhatsApp messages in their group chats about their scheme to avoid incrimination. He also disposed of his phone containing the messages. Court proceedings against the three other co-accused persons are ongoing. If Tan does not pay his S$4,194,000 fine, he will have to serve an additional 44 months of jail. 'Singapore takes a serious view on fraudulent evasion of duties and GST and related money laundering activities and will not hesitate to take stern enforcement actions against any individuals who commit these offences and persons who facilitate them,' said SPF and Singapore Customs in the release.
