http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,200453,00.html?
'Pimp told me girl was over 18'
Man claims he was told prostitute old enough for commercial sex
By Arul John
April 30, 2009
AWARE: Rodney Sim said he knew about the law regarding paid sex with a person aged below 18. ST FILE PICTURE
HE CLAIMED he asked the prostitute and her pimp if she was 18 - the legal age to offer sex for money.
Rodney Sim Hang Nge, 61, told the court yesterday that the pimp and the girl confirmed that.
He asked the pimp that question as he was aware it was a crime to engage in paid sex with a person under the age of 18.
The law came into effect in February last year.
Sim, a senior accountant and father of two, told District Judge Jeffrey Sim: 'That question (about her age) is as sure as the sun rises in the east because it was only two sentences in Mandarin.'
But the pimp, Wang Minjiang, 37, said he told Sim that the girl was only 17.
On 15 Dec last year, Sim pleaded guilty to having sex with the girl twice - 3 Aug and 5 Aug last year - when she was only 16 years old.
We are not identifying her as she is a minor.
Sim's lawyer, Mr Shashi Nathan, had already prepared and submitted his client's mitigation plea and he was supposed to be sentenced yesterday.
But there was a dispute over some facts in the mitigation plea, including that concerning Sim's queries about the prostitute's age, and a Newton hearing was held yesterday instead. This is a hearing held to resolve disputed points in a case and ascertain the correct basis for sentencing.
Wang was earlier sentenced to a year's jail for arranging the girl to have sex with Sim and another man, Tan Chye Hin.
Wang, who was brought in as a witness, said that at about 7pm on 3 Aug last year, he, the girl and another woman were at a coffee shop in Geylang when they met Sim there.
When Sim then asked their ages, Wang said he told him the girl was 17 and the woman was 19, which he claimed were the ages indicated on their passports.
He denied telling Sim that the girl was over 18.
But Sim said he asked Wang in Mandarin if he knew about the law prohibiting any girl below 18 from 'working' (a slang for prostitution).
He said: 'He told me 'Don't worry. I know Singapore law and my girl is above 18.'
No passport with her
While on the way to a hotel in Joo Chiat that day, Sim asked the girl if she had her passport with her. The girl said 'no'.
He then asked her how old she was. She told him she was 18. He said he considered Wang's assurance as well as the girl's word that she was 18 to be important facts.
Sim said: 'All my life, I'm a law-abiding citizen and it is my duty... to ensure that I don't do anything against the law.'
The hearing was adjourned to 24 Jun.
For having paid sex with a girl under 18, Sim could be fined, jailed up to seven years, or face both punishments.
Last December, Tan was sentenced to a year's jail. On appeal, his jail term was reduced to nine months on 20 Feb.
Some of Sim's family members who attended the hearing declined to speak to The New Paper.
'Pimp told me girl was over 18'
Man claims he was told prostitute old enough for commercial sex
By Arul John
April 30, 2009
AWARE: Rodney Sim said he knew about the law regarding paid sex with a person aged below 18. ST FILE PICTURE
HE CLAIMED he asked the prostitute and her pimp if she was 18 - the legal age to offer sex for money.
Rodney Sim Hang Nge, 61, told the court yesterday that the pimp and the girl confirmed that.
He asked the pimp that question as he was aware it was a crime to engage in paid sex with a person under the age of 18.
The law came into effect in February last year.
Sim, a senior accountant and father of two, told District Judge Jeffrey Sim: 'That question (about her age) is as sure as the sun rises in the east because it was only two sentences in Mandarin.'
But the pimp, Wang Minjiang, 37, said he told Sim that the girl was only 17.
On 15 Dec last year, Sim pleaded guilty to having sex with the girl twice - 3 Aug and 5 Aug last year - when she was only 16 years old.
We are not identifying her as she is a minor.
Sim's lawyer, Mr Shashi Nathan, had already prepared and submitted his client's mitigation plea and he was supposed to be sentenced yesterday.
But there was a dispute over some facts in the mitigation plea, including that concerning Sim's queries about the prostitute's age, and a Newton hearing was held yesterday instead. This is a hearing held to resolve disputed points in a case and ascertain the correct basis for sentencing.
Wang was earlier sentenced to a year's jail for arranging the girl to have sex with Sim and another man, Tan Chye Hin.
Wang, who was brought in as a witness, said that at about 7pm on 3 Aug last year, he, the girl and another woman were at a coffee shop in Geylang when they met Sim there.
When Sim then asked their ages, Wang said he told him the girl was 17 and the woman was 19, which he claimed were the ages indicated on their passports.
He denied telling Sim that the girl was over 18.
But Sim said he asked Wang in Mandarin if he knew about the law prohibiting any girl below 18 from 'working' (a slang for prostitution).
He said: 'He told me 'Don't worry. I know Singapore law and my girl is above 18.'
No passport with her
While on the way to a hotel in Joo Chiat that day, Sim asked the girl if she had her passport with her. The girl said 'no'.
He then asked her how old she was. She told him she was 18. He said he considered Wang's assurance as well as the girl's word that she was 18 to be important facts.
Sim said: 'All my life, I'm a law-abiding citizen and it is my duty... to ensure that I don't do anything against the law.'
The hearing was adjourned to 24 Jun.
For having paid sex with a girl under 18, Sim could be fined, jailed up to seven years, or face both punishments.
Last December, Tan was sentenced to a year's jail. On appeal, his jail term was reduced to nine months on 20 Feb.
Some of Sim's family members who attended the hearing declined to speak to The New Paper.
