He had sex with girl, 15, and threatened to post photos online
by Ong Dai Lin
05:55 AM Jul 15, 2010
<script type="text/javascript"> var fontIndex = 2; var fontSize = new Array('0.63em', '0.69em', '0.75em', '0.88em', '1em', '1.13em'); </script> SINGAPORE - He had sex with a girl under the age of 16. He was also charged with extortion and possession of an offensive weapon in the form of a 50-cm wooden stick. For all those offences, he could have been sent to jail and fined. But yesterday, a district court sentenced the 20-year-old man to 24 months' probation and 200 hours of community service. The court heard that the man met the girl online in March 2008 through cyber-gaming. They subsequently decided to be a couple.
Two months after their first face-to-face meeting, the man, then 18, and the girl, who was 15, ended up in his bedroom. There, he persuaded her to have sex with him but she did not want to and started crying. The man continued cajoling the girl and she eventually agreed. In July 2008, the girl wanted to end their relationship.
He then threatened to post naked photographs of her online - and told her she had to pay him $500 if she wanted the photographs. He also wanted her to return to him. The girl initially agreed but a month later, she once again asked for a break-up because she wanted to concentrate on her examinations.
That was when the man told her that he had already shared her naked photographs online with his friends. He also said he would tell her family that they had had a sexual relationship. The girl told her mother everything and they reported the matter to the police. The court has ordered that the man cannot be named to protect the girl's identity.
The issue of whether teens in a relationship should be prosecuted if they have underage sex has been taxing legal minds. Cases involving underage sex - for example, when one party is an adult - may have a clear-cut answer, but teen cases are hard to prosecute, said former Attorney-General Walter Woon.
"It's basically kids having sex ... What do you do if the couple think they're in love? It's less easy if the girl consents," he noted when he spoke on the subject at the third annual Singapore Children's Society Lecture last year. The man in this case faced a penalty of up to 10 years' jail, a fine or both, for having sex with a girl under the age of 16.
However, in the case of teenage male offenders, they have also been given reformative training and probation for such offences.
Ong Dai Lin
