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Man jailed for sex offences against 12-year-old boy he met on Grindr, offered him money
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore. (Photo: CNA/Calvin Oh)
SINGAPORE: A 54-year-old man was sentenced to two years and eight months' jail on Monday (Feb 21) for sexual offences against a 12-year-old boy he met on dating application Grindr.
Ng Tuan Loo, a hawker stall assistant, was almost 40 years older than the boy at the time of the offences. The crimes came to light when the boy's stepfather lodged a police report saying the victim had been sexually assaulted by three different men.
Ng pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual penetration of a minor, with another six charges taken into consideration. He is the third of the three men to be dealt with.
The court heard that Ng befriended the Secondary 1 student on Grindr around December 2019 or January 2020. He thought the victim was 13 years old.
The victim identifies himself as bisexual and was introduced to gay dating apps around June 2019 through an acquaintance he met on Instagram, said the prosecutors.
He downloaded two such apps, including Grindr, and falsely declared that he was 18 in order to register for the app. However, he indicated on his Grindr profile that he was 13.
After Ng came to know the victim on Grindr, they began chatting on WhatsApp. Ng told the victim he would take care of him and give him money.
Between Jan 16 and Jan 28 in 2020, Ng met the victim three times, engaging in sexual activities on each occasion.
On one occasion, Ng offered to pay the GrabCar fare for the victim to travel to Ng's house after school. They met for sexual activity and Ng handed him S$70 afterwards.
Ng also gave the victim S$80 on another occasion, as well as more cash and a red packet on the third occasion.
On Feb 5, 2020, the victim's stepfather checked his phone and confronted the boy, who admitted to having "physical contact" with three men.
The victim's stepfather contacted Ng, who alleged that the victim had been asking him for money. He also asked the victim's stepfather how to "settle" the issue.
The stepfather lodged a police report after discussing the issue with the victim's mother.
Deputy Public Prosecutor G Kannan asked for at least 32 months' jail for Ng. He noted that the other two men who had sex with the victim had been sentenced to 32 months' jail and 32 months and four weeks' jail respectively.
While they were not co-accused, the offences were similar and against the same victim, he said.
VULNERABLE VICTIM, WITH DEGREE OF EXPLOITATION: PROSECUTOR
Ng was almost four decades older than the victim, said Mr Kannan. The vulnerability of the victim is clear, and the "penetrative activity is of the highest order", with a degree of exploitation, he added.Ng offered money from the get-go, an enticement and a form of persuasion, he said.
Defence lawyer C K Teo said his client "got involved in this very unfortunate matter" because he "somehow became a member of this dating app Grindr and one thing led to another".
"It was on this platform that he befriended the victim, and it being a platform for gay persons, sir, he befriended the victim and then they had private conversations and one thing led to another," he said.
As for the money, he said his client was "just being nice because he was an older man having an income and the other party is a young boy".
In response, Mr Kannan cited a line from the mitigation plea which stated that "it's not unforeseeable that gay sex may ensue after friendship is made".
"The statement of facts (SOF) makes it clear that the victim's Grindr profile stated that he was 13 years old," said the prosecutor. "The SOF also includes an admission by the accused without qualification that he knew the victim was 13 years old at the material time. One thing should not have led to another in this circumstance. As a responsible adult, when he found out about the illegal age of the victim, he should have disengaged and had nothing further to do with him."
Instead, he "pursued" the victim for sex and offered him money, said Mr Kannan. He said "the fact that it was a gay app does not enter the equation at all", but that it was what Ng was after.
The judge noted the very young age of the victim, the age disparity between Ng and the victim, as well as how Ng used a social media app to "search for casual sex with total strangers". There was also a "high degree of exploitation".
