Man, 35, sentenced to over 7 months' jail for receiving sexual act from underaged girl
Jeremy Sim Wei Xiang, 35, receiving a sexual act from a 13-year-old girl three years ago.
- Jeremy Sim Wei Xiang was sentenced by a district court to a jail term of seven months and two weeks
- He had pleaded guilty to a single charge for receiving a sexual act from a 13-year-old girl
- Sim, and his friend Eng Rong Qiang, had paid the girl money to have a threesome with them
- Eng’s case is still before the courts
BY LOW YOUJIN
Published May 11, 2023
Updated May 11, 2023
SINGAPORE — A 35-year-old man was sentenced by a district court on Thursday (May 11) to a jail term of seven months and two weeks for committing an obscene act with an underaged girl.
Jeremy Sim Wei Xiang had pleaded guilty on March 30 this year to a single charge under the Children and Young Persons Act for receiving a sexual act from a 13-year-old girl three years ago.
Due to a gag order, the girl, who is now 16, cannot be named.
According to court documents, the incident took place on Feb 4 in 2020.
The victim met Sim’s friend Eng Rong Qiang online and they agreed to have sex in exchange for money, which court documents said she planned to spend on gaming credits.
Eng, now 34, subsequently arranged for a threesome between the girl, Sim and himself.
Describing the relationship between Eng and Sim, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Susanna Yim said the two Singaporean men had been “good friends” since secondary school.
Eng tasked Sim with booking a room at D’Resort, a chalet at Downtown East in Pasir Ris for Feb 4. They agreed they would each pay the girl S$150 in exchange for sex.
They also agreed that there would be no kissing or oral sex with the victim and they would use protection when having sexual intercourse with her.
Eng also informed Sim that the girl was underaged.
When Sim arrived at the room after work that day, bearing cups of bubble tea for each of them, he found that Eng and the girl were already in bed naked.
Sim showered before joining them. He then started kissing and touching the girl.
At some point, the girl, under the instructions of Eng, began masturbating Sim, but Sim was unable to achieve an erection because he “was stressed and felt guilty that the victim was so young", said DPP Yim.
While Eng had sex with the victim, Sim eventually did not.
DPP Yim said Sim also never met the victim again after the two-hour long session.
The girl’s mother only lodged a police report about the incident about a year later on March 18 in 2021, after she discovered her daughter had been having sex with Eng while browsing through her mobile phone.
SEXUAL PREDATORS MUST BE DETERRED: DPP
The prosecutor, who sought a jail term of between 10 and 12 months, said there is a strong need for deterrence given the nature of the offence.“Minors under the age of 16 neither have the experience nor maturity to make decisions which are in their best interests about their own sexuality,” she said.
“Therefore, sexual predators who capitalise on the immaturity of their young victims need to be strongly deterred.”
Sim’s lawyer, Mr Simon Tan Hiang Teck from Attorneys Inc, called for probation or a jail term of six months instead.
Court documents stated that Mr Tan argued that the degree of exploitation was low as the nature of the sexual contact was limited.
He also asserted that this was a purely commercial transaction with “no degree of emotional or mental exploitation of the victim’s trust”.
The defence had also taken a position that there was no sexual grooming of the girl on the part of Sim since they did not communicate prior to the incident.
In delivering his sentence on Thursday, District Judge Soh Tze Bian said it would not be appropriate to jail Sim for more than seven months and two weeks.
Such lengthier jail terms, he said, are “reserved for cases in which the minor is particularly vulnerable" and where the offender has exploited the victim to a significant degree, such as through penetrative sexual activity.
District Judge Soh added that the court should be mindful not to impose excessive punishment in situations where the minor is not particularly vulnerable and does not manifest any physical, intellectual, or psychological issues.
This also applies to cases where the offender does not subject the minor to coercion, intimidation, blackmail, or any pressure of the sort, said the judge.
Further, he added that the age disparity between Sim and the girl did not reveal anything about the man, such as his motivations or his ability to influence the girl, and should not be given weight in the sentencing.
“In my view, the sentence of seven months and two weeks…would not be manifestly excessive or inadequate,” said District Judge Soh.
Eng’s case is still before the courts.
For his offence, Sim could have been fined up to S$10,000 or jailed up to five years, or both.
